Bound by Fire
by Raberba girl
Summary: Axel has had three friendships in his life, and he wouldn't give up any of them for the worlds. Variations of AkuSaiRokuShi, all platonic; mostly AU.
1. Axel and Saïx

Bound by Fire

A Kingdom Hearts fanfic series by Raberba girl

_For Taliax, with much thanks (and some apologies XD). ^^_

Summary: Axel has had three friendships in his life, and he wouldn't give up any of them for the worlds. Variations of AkuSaiRokuShi, all platonic; mostly AU.

Introduction: Man, I've been working on this at least since May, if not longer... It kinda ended up being a combination of everything I keep wanting to do for you and never get a chance to - not like it was a chore or anything, since these are pretty much my favorite things to write about. XD

The title: because Axel seems to be the glue that holds these four together. (As opposed to AkuRokuShi, where Roxas holds them together.) He's also a star figure in five of the six stories, then took over the RokuShi story as well. *sweatdrop*

For some _incredibly strange_ reason, AkuSai seemed to worm its way into almost every single one of these. ;) **Though Saïx ended up OOC a lot, I kept getting carried away. DX**

...Aaaand, because I have OCD, I'm working on _Bound by Moonlight_ for SaiRoku, SaiShi, SaiRokuShi, etc. *eyeroll*

**Part 1 of 6 - Axel and Saïx (rough draft)**

Summary: "I never lose things. So _where is it_? Chi, go find it." Saïx needs his Disney Town ticket back.

A/N: Takes place a little after _Christmas at the Castle_.

o.o.o

Saïx stood in the middle of his room, as close to exasperation as a Nobody could get. "Where _is_ it?"

Chi sat at his feet, looking up at him anxiously. The usually spotless room was full of strewn clothes and objects and open drawers, all set in disarray during Saïx's increasingly 'frustrated' search. "I never _lose_ things, so where could it _possibly_ be?"

"Bark," Chi offered.

"Hush, let me think..."

No time. He was going to be late if he didn't get out of here this instant. "I'll have to look again later. Chi, be good." She head-butted his ankle. He stooped briefly to scratch behind her ears, then headed out to meet with Lord Xemnas.

He did not notice the little Chihuahua trotting after him, slipping out of the portal at his heels. However, instead of accompanying him to the head of the Proof of Existence, she went sniffing her way along to the thirteenth portal.

She finally found what she was looking for in the eighth portal, after her master had gone down to breakfast. Watched by curious and somewhat perplexed Assassins, Chi moved through the dark room, sniffing through strewn boots and empty video game cases and at the sleeping flame-user's arm dangling over the edge of the bed. Then the other side of the room, through a pile of Keychain Gears and at a half-constructed stuffed animal.

It was in the pocket of one of the dirty coats heaped on the floor. Chi had a difficult time sticking her snout into the stiff garment's pocket, but she managed it, grasping the card in her teeth and tugging it free. Then she proudly trotted back out of the room and up into her master's portal, set down her prize, assumed a guarding stance, and waited.

o.o.o.o.o

Saïx returned to his room after work to find Chi drowsing on top of the very item he'd practically torn his room apart looking for that morning. "Chi!"

She jerked awake and yipped excitedly.

"What did you...?" He tucked her under one arm and studied the Disney Town pass in his other hand. "You found it," he finally acknowledged.

"Bark!"

He kissed the top of her head. "I know of a house full of Dalmatian puppies I'm sure you'll enjoy visiting. I will take you there soon - you've earned it."

o.o.o.o.o

The next morning, Axel stared at his mission brief for a while before finally remarking, "Luna Diviner's feeling a bit nostalgic, eh?"

"Difficult for Nobodies to 'feel' anything without hearts," Saïx returned. "We can't leave until I've sent off everyone else, so go waste time since I know you're not going to do anything useful."

"Why be useful when you can play with _those_ instead?" Axel laughed, pointing across the room at the Keybearers (who were amiably arguing about panel arrangement efficiency).

"Don't you dare keep them late, I need a full day's worth of work out of both of them."

"Blah blah blah, whatever you say, boss."

It was later in the morning than Saïx would have liked when the last Organization member finally vanished through a dark corridor. He turned to Axel, who was napping on one of the couches. "Axel, we're leaving."

"Five more minutes, Mom," Axel muttered.

"Wake _up_, Axel."

"Blargh..."

Saïx went to get Chi, and came back into the Grey Area to find Axel still on the couch.

"Lea, you _really_ need to stop playing video games so late."

Axel's eyes opened at that, and he stared. "Well, Isa," he said slowly, "between work and baby-sitting, when am I _supposed_ to get my video game time in?"

"I would think that working to restore your ability to feel emotion should take precedence over how many alien-shaped groups of pixels you can successfully aim at."

"It's not just shooting games! My Virtu-Farm's been prospering spectacularly, and I'm _this close_ to 100% completion on _Sky Castle_. Besides, I think your priorities are a bit out of whack, too, if you're taking the day off to go play in Disney Town."

"It's reconnaissance."

"In an amusement park."

"I can reassign you if you wish."

Axel grinned. "Nope, I'm good."

Saïx held out what looked like a handful of fluff.

"D'aww, I get to bring Bomb? Yay!"

"It's only fair," the Diviner muttered.

Armed with a kitten and a Chihuahua, the two Nobodies headed to Disney Town and presented their passes. "Oh!" the admission attendant exclaimed as she looked at Axel. "I remember you! You came here with that adorable little girl and boy, all in the black coats."

"Little girl?" Saïx asked in puzzlement as they continued on into the town.

"Yeah. Xion, duh. What other little girls do we have in this Organization?"

Saïx stopped dead. "You gave my Disney Town pass to _Xion_?"

"I _lent_ your Disney Town pass to Xion, and so what? As if _you_ were using it!"

"Do you have any idea how long I was searching for it?"

"You could have just asked."

"And had you guessing why I needed it and somehow finagling the Keybearers along, I don't think so."

"They would have _loved_ to join us."

"And would then have gotten in the way, distracted you into uselessness, and-"

That was when Chi started barking shrilly, so that it was a little hard to think.

"Chi, be quiet," Saïx commanded. She backed away toward Axel and kept barking, now sounding a little desperate.

Axel scooped her up and cuddled her, cooing, "Your daddy's bein' meeeeaaaan."

Saïx noticed that the little dog was trembling. "Give her to me."

"_My_ puppy!"

"She's full-grown, and _give_ her to me, she's mine."

"She's mad at you."

"I'm going to corridor that cat of yours somewhere unpleasant if you don't _hand over my dog_."

"Hey, do I threaten _your_ fluffy?" Axel said indignantly. However, he was not unaware of the animal's distress, and passed her over readily enough. She seemed to calm down once the argument stopped. "See, Daddy and Uncle Axel are still friends," he cooed at her over Saïx's shoulder. "Humans only argue like old married couples when they looooove each other."

She watched him as she licked Saïx's glove. "Stop saying strange things," Saïx said with a frown. "Let's go, we're wasting time."

"I'll say. Let's catch all the popular rides first and save your boring ones for when everyone gets out of school and makes the lines really long."

"My _boring_ ones?"

"Heh, one would think you'd be more of a thrill seeker now that you've got no heart to freak out with..."

"I never 'freaked out' on any rides-"

"Only 'cause you always REFUSED TO RIDE THEM-"

"-and I hope you don't intend to spend the entire day vainly attempting to stimulate the heart you don't have, since it's not going to work and there are more productive ways to pass the time here."

"Isa, you're talking as if visiting Disney Town is a chore."

"According to the mission brief, it should be."

"Well, better remember to investigate and analyze everything in between the Rumble Racing track and the ice cream shop and the Fruit Ball court and the performance stage, otherwise the higher-ups'll think we just came here to have fun," Axel laughed.

"We certainly can't have that," Saïx murmured, with what Axel could have sworn was a small twinkle in his eyes.

"Nope, can't have that at _all_."

They proceeded to enjoy their secret vacation to the full extent of their ability, which was rather more than any Nobody should have been capable of. Despite the fact that pretty much all the information in the report was falsified, Saïx counted that particular mission a success.


	2. Axel and Roxas

_**Bound by Fire**_**, a Kingdom Hearts fanfic series by Raberba girl**

**Part 2 of 6 - Axel and Roxas (rough draft)**

Summary: Teenage Axel takes his four-year-old little brother to hang out at the mall.

A/N: _Stepsiblings_ universe, Axel's POV. It's before they meet Sai & Xi.

o.o.o

"Why can't we go to Pizza Planet?"

"I told you, Rox-my-socks, I'm broke. Don't you like just hanging out with me?"

"Yeah. I guess," he says disinterestedly. Ugh, kid, you're breaking my heart here...

My little brother and I walk into the mall, where I obviously can't buy anything, but it's too cold to go to the park (for me, at least; Roxas probably wouldn't care much). I can't think of anywhere else to take him that won't cost money.

"Whew, looks like it's not too crowded..." I glance down to smile at Roxas, who isn't really paying attention to me, when I notice a credit card or something lying on the floor. "Hm." I pick it up, and it turns out to be a gift certificate to a children's clothing store. The _To:_ and _From:_ boxes are blank.

"What's that?" Roxas asks.

"Um...Roxas, if you ever find something on the ground that looks like it belongs to someone else, turn it in to the adults who work there, okay?" I say, guiltily slipping the card into my pocket.

"Okay. Hey, Axel, can we go play where all the kids are?"

"Heh, that's what we're here for, isn't it?" There's a semi-enclosed play area down at one end of the mall, where kids can run around and stuff while their parents are resting or waiting. Roxas and I have a blast chasing each other and crawling through the tunnels (well, _he_ crawls through them, they're too small for my dignity) and throwing those colored plastic balls at each other.

Eventually, I get in trouble because I'm too old to be playing with all the little kids, the equipment wasn't designed for older people. And I think some of the moms just don't like having this crazy teenage guy running around where their kids are, anyway. It stinks, but I go sit on one of the benches with the rest of the stuffy grown-ups because I don't want to get in trouble and be kicked out.

So much more boring, sitting here not being allowed to play, but at least Roxas seems to be having fun. I sit there watching because there's nothing else to do, except call or text someone I guess, but there's no one I wanna call. Man, maybe we should've gone to the park after all...

"Yo, Axel!"

"Zidane," I call back, getting up to bro-hug him and say hi to his girlfriend Sarah.

"What's up, man?"

"Just hanging out."

"In the kids' play area?" Sarah giggles.

"Yeah, Roxas wanted to try it for a while. You remember my little brother, right, Sarah?"

"Cutest little boy _ever_," she gushes, to my satisfaction.

"Yup. Hey, Roxas! Get over here and say hi!"

I manage to round up Roxas, who tolerates being squeed over for a minute before running off again.

"So what've you been up to?" Zidane asks, and we stand there talking for awhile. I've been working through driver's ed, he's getting ready for some play, she's having trouble with her mom but trying to gloss it over, and they're at the mall to shop for new pants for Zidane, because "He always gets the cheap kind and they rip _far_ too easily."

"They're not cheap, they're _comfortable_."

"Well, you're too active for that to work as an excuse, so I highly suggest that you start putting durability over comfort."

It's about then I realize that I can't see my brother anywhere. "Oh, man, where's Roxas?"

Zidane's looking out, past the boundaries of the play area. "Um...I don't think he's supposed to be in there..."

Sarah gasps. "Oh, no!"

I look around frantically until I finally see what they're seeing. "GAH!"

Roxas is wading through the fountain, stooping to pick up little gold orbs.

"Roxaaaaaas!" I run over and stare at him, and he looks up at me and holds up both hands full of wet metal and says, "Look, Axel, I found money."

I can't help it. I _mean_ to push the money out of his hands, drag him out, and give him a lecture, but instead I collapse against the side of the fountain and burst into laughter. "Flaming _pants_, Rox-my-socks... Ohhhhh man, oh man, you're just..._bwa_hahahahahaha!"

Roxas is staring at me, looking a little indignant now. "_What_?" he huffs.

"Ohhhh, Roxas. Oh, buddy." I try to get hold of myself and kneel up to look at him. "Rox... Roxas Aubade, you need to put that money down and get out of the freaking fountain _now_."

He narrows his eyes and clutches his treasures to his chest. "No. It's mine. I found it."

I reach out for him, but he quickly splashes back out of my reach, his eyes gleaming with mischief.

"Mr. Roxas," I say as I stand up, "you'd better come here _right now_ or you're going to be in trouble."

"Make me."

We do the dance for a while where I lunge around the fountain in various directions trying to catch hold of him, and he dodges me every single time because he's in the middle. Now he's giggling openly - until I finally start wading in myself. Then he shrieks and takes off across the water, dodging me again until a pair of strong hands that aren't mine suddenly seize him. Roxas gasps and drops all the money as he stares up into the face of a very big and ticked-looking mall cop. "This is not a pool, little boy," the guy booms.

"I didn't mean it," Roxas whimpers. He jerks free and splashes hugely over to hide behind me. I feel ridiculous, standing in a fountain in the middle of a mall with the cop and a whole lot of interested bystanders staring at me. "C'mon, Roxas, say cheese," I decide, picking up my brother and posing with him for one of the girls who's pointing her camera phone at us.

Roxas and I get firmly escorted out, at which point I'm left in freezing weather with an agitated little boy who's soaked to the skin from splashing around so much, and nothing in my wallet but a gift card to a children's clothing store.

Hmmmm. "Come on, Roxas."

"I'm all wet."

"Yeah, we gotta do something about that, don't we."

Unsurprisingly, we get some weird looks in the store, but no one says anything about it. I steer Roxas into the section with clothes that look closest to his size and let him pick what he wants. "This shirt's cool." He pulls it over his head and grins at me. The words _PYRO AND PROUD OF IT_ are now emblazoned across his chest.

My mouth suddenly feels dry. "Roxas...I think...you should pick a different shirt."

"No. I like the red one."

The scar under my eye seems to tingle almost painfully. "...Well, I don't like it."

He frowns at me in this hurt sort of way that makes my heart seem to twist. "But...it's cool." He sounds more uncertain now.

"I think this blue shirt here is cooler," I try, grabbing the first one that comes to hand.

Roxas looks down at the shirt he's still wearing. "This one is like you. I want it."

Well, how am I supposed to argue with _that_? "...Fine, but you know what, Roxas, when we get home, I'm gonna teach you how to make fires and be safe, okay?"

Kid doesn't even blink. "Okay, Axel." He puts his hand in mine. "I like that you're my brother."

Ugggghhh, he is going to kill me, I love him so freaking much. "I like that you're my brother, too, Rox."

"Can we get ice cream after this?"

"Umm...I'm kind of still broke."

"Can we go to the park?"

I grin. "Now, that, I can do.

o.o.o

Author's Notes: "Sarah" is the birth name of Dagger from _Final Fantasy IX_. I only played FF9 once and totally missed that, I had to look it up in the FF wiki. XD

The sequel to this story is _Stepsiblings: Winner_. Also, there's a mistake in "Winner;" I think Roxas is supposed to be four, not five.


	3. Roxas and Xion

_**Bound by Fire**_**, a Kingdom Hearts fanfic series by Raberba girl**

**Part 3 of 6 - Roxas and Xion (rough draft)**

Summary: They made a promise to each other, and both of them are determined to keep it.

A/N: Modern AU. Roxas & Xion are both ten years old. Unfortunately, Axel ended up with _way_ more screentime than either Rox or Xi. Stupid Axel.

There's a kiss in this one, but it's not romantic.

**Prologue**

_"So we'll really do it? We'll really meet here again on the last day of summer?"_

_"Yeah. It's a promise, okay?"_

_"Okay. I'll be waiting."_

o.o.o

The only reason Axel was awake this early during summer vacation was because he was pet-sitting and had to feed the neighbor's dog. He was a little surprised to see Roxas dragging his bike out of the garage rather than parked in front of morning cartoons with cereal, but he was still half-asleep and didn't think much of it. "You going out for a ride?"

"Yeah," Roxas said as he snapped the clasp of the bike helmet under his chin.

"That's good. See you later, okay?"

"Okay. Bye, Axel."

Axel walked down the street, opened the gate, fended off the uber-excited German Shepherd, popped the lid off a can of dog food, refilled the water bucket, then trudged home again and went back to bed.

He woke up properly a few hours later.

"Axel?" his mother asked as he came into the kitchen, "Do you know where your brother is?"

"He was going out for a bike ride last time I saw him. What, he hasn't come back yet?"

"No...and I'm a little worried. Do you think you could-?"

"Yeah," Axel said at once, turning right back around.

"Well, wait, Axel, have you eaten yet?"

"No, but I'll be fine."

"Axel!"

"See you later, Mom."

She marched over and jabbed him so hard in the ribs that he yelped. "Axel Deucalion Hayes, you come right back here and park your butt in that chair until you've got some protein in you. I can almost fit my thumb and finger entirely around your wrist, that is _wrong_."

"Mom!" he cried as she actually demonstrated. "Cut it out, I'll eat!" After placating her as quickly as possible, he got up again and headed out on his own bike.

Axel was not particularly worried until he realized that Roxas was not in the neighborhood, at which point he frowned. "Now, where did you take off to, little buddy?" Hayner's house, maybe. Axel biked over there and listened for the sound of kids playing as he waited for someone to open the door, but he didn't hear his brother's voice.

"Oh! Hello, Axel," Hayner's mother exclaimed when she opened the door. "Did Hayner invite friends over without telling me again?"

"Dunno. Is Roxas here?"

"Well, I'll see." She turned away, her mild tone suddenly exploding into a carrying shout. "HAYNER!"

"What?" her son's voice yelled back.

"I _TOLD_ YOU, NO GUESTS WITHOUT PERMISSION!"

"I _didn't_ invite anyone over without permission!"

"WHERE'S ROXAS, THEN?"

"How should I know!?" Hayner screeched back.

"BECAUSE HE'S YOUR BEST FRIEND!"

_'No,'_ Axel thought. _'I don't care how much fun the two of them have playing together. Roxas's best friend is someone else.'_

"Since when has Roxas been my best friend?" Hayner was yelling.

"SINCE YOU AND SEIFER DECIDED YOU WERE NO LONGER ON SPEAKING TERMS!"

"DON'T EVER SAY THAT LOSER'S NAME AGAIN! GAH!"

"Mind if I go talk to him?" Axel asked.

She smiled and waved a hand invitingly, her voice all sweetness again. "Go ahead, dear."

Axel went out to the backyard, where Hayner was apparently trying to set something on fire. _'Kindred spirit,'_ Axel thought in amusement. "'Sup, Hayner."

"Oh," the boy said in surprise. "So that's why she was asking..." A defensive look came over his face. "Roxas ain't here."

"Geez, I was just checking. We haven't seen him for hours, and I figured he might be with you because he's over here so often and all." Axel grinned. "Now that you and Seifer are no longer on speaking terms."

"I TOLD you not to say his name!"

"So what do you call him, then? 'That Guy With The Exposed Bellybutton'?"

Hayner stared at him in wordless horror.

Axel laughed again. "So you haven't seen or heard from Roxas at all today?"

"No," the younger boy mumbled sullenly.

Something about the way he said it caught Axel's attention. "...At _all_?"

"Get off my back, man."

Axel fixed him with a serious look. "Hayner. Roxas is my little brother. I'm kind of worried about him. If he's doing something dangerous and something bad happens to him, and I could have prevented it if I'd only known a little more about what he's up to..." He set a hand on the kid's shoulder. His grip, though not particularly tight, was very meaningful.

Hayner nervously looked at the hand on his shoulder. "Roxas went home," he finally mumbled.

Axel smiled a little and clapped Hayner's shoulder. "Thanks."

He biked back to the house, but to his surprise, Roxas wasn't there like he expected. "Mom? Did Roxas turn up while I was out?"

She frowned. "No, unless he sneaked in when I didn't notice."

"I'll check his room."

Empty. Roxas wasn't anywhere in the house. "Argh, where _are_ you?!"

This time, he took the car. Perusing the streets didn't do any good; no luck at the school or the park or the Skaters' Playground; then it suddenly occurred to Axel that their current residence had only been so for a few months. It was very possible that Roxas might not yet consider it to be his "home."

_"Dad,"_ Roxas had asked yesterday, _"can you show me something on the roadmap?"_

Axel swore, jerked the car around, and headed for the highway.

o.o.o.o.o

_'I am never having kids,'_ Axel thought multiple times during that drive. _'Because if I love them even half this much and something horrible ever happens to them, it'll kill me.'_

There, in the wildflowers near the road. A small slumped figure, staring off into the distance beside a fallen bike.

Axel pulled over, stumbled out of the car, and had his arms around Roxas in seconds.

"Axel," his little brother said softly, "I'm so tired."

"What were you _thinking_?" Axel yelled. Roxas just closed his eyes. "You were going to _Twilight Town_?!"

"I promised Xion," Roxas whispered. "We said we'd meet on the clock tower at sunset, the last day of summer vacation. But...it's been so long, and I'm still so far away, and I don't know if I can get there now before the sun sets, and I ate everything I brought but I'm still so hungry..."

"Roxas," Axel said in exasperation, "it's 270 miles away. It'd take you at least _three days_ to get there on your bike, probably more."

Roxas stared at him in dismay. "So I should have left three days ago?"

"NO! You're _ten_! You can't ride 270 miles alone on a bike, are you _crazy_?!"

Roxas didn't say anything. There was no need for him to, his heartbroken expression was enough.

"Rox...c'mon, don't look at me like that..."

"I promised her," Roxas whispered. One of the tears slipped quietly down his cheek.

"Dang it, Roxas, I told you not to look at me like that!"

o.o.o.o.o

Saïx frowned and looked up from the computer. It sounded like someone had just gone out the front door. "Xion?" he called loudly.

No answer. He swiftly got up and went outside, where his younger sister was hurrying down the front walk. "Xion Mya Acerbi, come back here _now_."

She jerked to a stop and turned to face him, but though she shifted uncomfortably from foot to foot, she didn't move any closer to the house. "Saïx..."

"Just what do you think you're doing?" he demanded.

"I have to go out for a little bit," she mumbled.

"You have to go out for a little bit," he repeated scathingly. "I suppose you think it's a _splendid_ idea to get me in trouble by leaving the house when you're under my charge, without telling me, near nightfall, so you can get caught by one of those shadow monsters that have been showing up again."

"I wasn't trying to get you in trouble!" she protested. "I just...I have to meet someone, it's really important, and I knew you wouldn't let me go but I _swear_ I'll be back before Mom and Dad get home-"

"And just who is it, exactly, that you so _desperately_ have to meet?"

"Um...Roxas...we're gonna eat ice cream."

He stared at her. "Roxas?"

"Yeah."

"What does that boy or his brother have to do with anything?"

"I...we...we promised we'd meet again, one last time before school started..."

"Xion. They live 270 miles away now. They're not going to drive all the way down here just so you can have _ice cream_."

Her eyes started to fill with tears. "But...but we...we promised."

"Not all promises are kept," he said shortly. "Get inside. You do _not_ want to make me drag you back by force."

Xion cried and pleaded, but it did nothing to sway him, and she finally screamed that she hated him and ran to her room to slam the door shut and cry in earnest.

Saïx went back to filling out applications, but his sister's muffled, heartbroken wails were distracting, even when he shut the hall door. He finally sighed and reached for his phone. Perhaps she would calm down and stop this nonsense if she could talk to her little friend.

"Yes, it's me," he said when Axel picked up. "I'm calling because of Xion, she's being ridiculous..." After he explained the situation, he listened to the other's own explanation. His eyes widened. "_What_? ... You mean to tell me that you really-? ... But it'll take you _five hours_. ... Axel Hayes, that child owns your soul. This cannot be good for you." He sighed. "Yes, very well."

After hanging up, he went to knock on Xion's bedroom door.

"Go away!" she screamed.

"Oh. I suppose you don't want me to let you go out, then."

There was a mad scramble from behind the door, which was then flung open to reveal Xion's tear-streaked, frazzled expression. "You...you're...letting me go?"

"Put your shoes on and wait for me by the front door."

"Y-You're coming with me?" she realized in astonishment.

"Of course I am, you're my responsibility right now. I'm not going to let any shadow monster get even close to my sister. ... Don't just stand there gawking at me, hurry up. You're costing me a great deal of time and inconvenience."

She flung her arms around him. "Thank you," she whispered.

"Don't hug me."

"Why not?" she demanded.

"For one thing, I hardly warrant such affection from you." He stooped to try to pry her off, so that his hair brushed against her face.

"You're my brother. I can hug you if I want. I can kiss you, too."

"Don't-" he started to exclaim, too late to avoid the kiss she smacked on his nose. "Ugh."

By the time he had saved the applications, fetched a few things he would need, and was putting his shoes on, Xion was nearly dancing with impatience. "Saïx, hurry up, it's almost sunset!"

"Don't rush me."

"If I hadn't had to wait for you, I could've been there by now!"

"Stop exaggerating. And anyway, it's not safe. Stop fretting, you'll see Roxas soon enough."

She stared at him. "I thought you said he wouldn't come because he lives a million miles away."

Saïx gazed at her for a moment. "He promised he would come."

"But you said sometimes people break promises!"

"Maybe he won't. Let's give him a chance."

She burst into tears. "You're so confusing!"

"So are you," he grumbled. Uncomfortably, he laid a hand on her head after a moment. "Stop crying."

"What if he doesn't come? What if he doesn't come...?"

"Then I'll buy you some ice cream and you can talk to him on the phone and make the best of it, now hush. You don't even have any reason to cry yet."

She sniffled. "That's true. Saïx, I miss him. I really miss him a lot."

"Xion..." Saïx sighed and leaned down to brush the tears away from her cheeks. "I am not impressed by your lack of faith. Do you honestly believe that distance and a broken promise can sever the bond between you and your friend so easily?"

"...Me and Roxas will be friends no matter what," she whispered. "Forever."

"That's what I thought. Stop acting like this is the end of the world, and get in the car."

o.o.o.o.o

Roxas was in tears. "I messed up. She'll hate me. She won't want to be my friend anymore. I broke my promise."

"Roxas, we're _ten minutes away_," Axel said in exasperation. "Stop acting like it's the end of the world."

"But we said sunset! It's dark now!"

"Roxas, trust me, she is not going to obsess over the details."

Still, as soon as Axel stopped the car, his brother hurled himself out and ran for the clock tower. Rolling his eyes a little, Axel climbed out and stretched. "Whew! Five hours of driving with a spazzy kid and no snacks and no good music - I never want to do that _ever again_."

"There's plenty of pizza left, if you want it," a voice called out.

Axel broke into a grin and jogged over to where his best friend was sitting on the station steps with a book beside a box of half-eaten pizza.

"You had it delivered here?"

"Xion hadn't eaten supper yet. I couldn't think of any better way to feed her."

"Works for me, man; I'm _starving_." He inhaled two or three slices in what felt like as many seconds, then looked up to find Saïx gazing at him in silent disgust. "What?"

"...I've seen four-year-olds eat tidier than that."

Axel laughed and swiped tomato sauce off his chin. "If you're talking about Zexion, he doesn't count. That kid's a born neat freak."

Saïx shook his head and leaned back, bracing his hands against the steps. "So the drive was rough?"

"Oh, _man_, understatement of the week."

"I find it difficult to imagine that your parents would condone such a trip on the very evening before school starts."

Axel laughed sheepishly. "Um, they kinda didn't. I'm gonna be in so much friggin' trouble when I get home...that is, if I don't sleep through their ranting. It's probably gonna be 2:00 in the morning by the time we get back."

Saïx shook his head. "I told you this soul-owning business was bad for you."

"But I can't help iiiiiit! They look at me with their big blue eyes and I just, my heart, it's like - _mrgh_."

"You're pathetic."

"Man, I _was_ gonna say 'It's good to see you again,' but now I think I won't, hah."

"Childish as ever, I see. In contrast, I maturely confess that I am glad to see you as well."

"Maybe we should start our own little annual reunion thing, too."

"Sacred moon, they're not going to do this _again_, are they?"

Axel laughed. "Why should you care? You're not the one who's gonna have to drive five hours back to Twilight Town every year to make it happen."

"Axel, if Roxas burst into tears and made puppy eyes at you and asked you to jump off a cliff, would you do it?"

"Roxas is never gonna ask me to jump off a cliff!"

"_If_ he did. Theoretically."

"I...I dunno, I...I mean, he'd never...I guess n-"

"Axel! This is not a question you're supposed to need to _think_ about!"

"Oh. Well, yeah, I knew that."

o.o.o.o.o

It was dark, and cold. Xion squeezed her arms tighter around her knees and tried to keep the tears from spilling out down her cheeks. She had been waiting...waiting and waiting... The sky had gone darker and darker, fading slowly but steadily to orange to red to navy to black, and now the stars were out and he _wasn't coming_.

She wondered yet again, the anxiety seeming to drive through her chest, if maybe Roxas had been there, but she'd been late and he left. She hadn't been able to get here _right_ at sunset, thanks to stupid Saïx. But she'd finally gone down and asked Saïx and he said of _course_ Roxas hadn't come just to leave again as soon as the lower rim of the sun touched the horizon, that was ridiculous. And she'd said How do you know? and he'd said I just do and then he made her eat pizza even though she wasn't hungry. She thought she was going to be sick.

"Roxas," she whispered, "I'm so sorry." If only she'd tried to leave a little earlier...if only she'd been more careful for Saïx not to hear her-

"Xion!"

"_Roxas_!" she screamed before even turning around. For a second, as she scrambled to get to her feet, she wondered if she'd only imagined his voice; but no, he really was here, barreling around the corner. She rushed to him and flung herself at him and burst into tears as his arms came around her and hugged her tightly. "I thought you weren't coming!" she wailed. "I thought you weren't coming..."

"Xion, I'm sorry, I'm really sorry, I tried to come but I was stupid and I didn't know I couldn't ride my bike here and I got really tired and then Axel was _late_ and I tried to get here at sunset but I messed up, I'm really sorry, please don't cry...please..."

It wasn't until they discovered what had become of the ice cream bars each of them had brought that they burst into laughter and their spirits lifted: each bag was fat with completely liquefied ice cream, the wooden sticks floating leisurely within; Roxas's package wasn't even the least bit cold anymore.

"Should we still eat them?" Xion asked dubiously. "Well...drink them?"

Roxas shrugged. "We promised we would, didn't we?"

Drinking the melted ice cream was a little gross, but it didn't matter. The truly sweet part was getting to sit next to her best friend in the entire world, watching the stars and talking; didn't matter about what, as long as she got to bask in the warmth of his voice and his friendship.

_'I wish we could stay like this forever.'_

o.o.o.o.o

It was easier when she didn't need adult supervision.

Xion made her way up to the top of the clock tower, her steps reluctant. Hope and resignation seemed to war in her chest. _'He's not coming,'_ she told herself firmly. _'Stop trying to get your hopes up.'_

Although she and Roxas had been faithful to meet each other every year at the close of summer all throughout junior high school, they were older now and had, unfortunately, drifted farther apart than she'd ever thought they would. Roxas had not been able to make it to Twilight Town for the start of their first year of high school, and last year he simply had not showed up, nor left any messages.

_'This is the last time, Xi,'_ she told herself. _'Look at the stars and be lonely and say goodbye. Then you can move on. You'll see him around, but this whole meet-on-the-clock-tower thing is for kids.'_ She rounded the corner - and froze.

He was so big. Well, tall, at least; still fairly slim, but with muscles in his arms and beneath his shirt (since when had he started wearing tight-fitting shirts, anyway?) that were definitely more impressive than they'd used to be. That wild hair of his was gone, tamed into a short crop that she rather wanted to scrub her fingers through.

His big blue eyes, though, when he looked at her, were exactly the same...

"Xion!" He leaped up and ran to her, beaming. "You came!"

"So did you!" she exclaimed, surprised and delighted.

"I...I forgot about last year, I think," he said questioningly.

"Yeah, you did."

He fidgeted guiltily. "I'm sorry, Xi..."

She slapped a hand across his butt, making him yelp, then wrapped her arms around his chest in a tight hug. "I'm glad you're here now. I missed you."

"I missed you, too," he said softly, bringing his arms up to return the hug. "I didn't realize how much until now."

"Took me for granted, huh."

"No!" Then he paused. "Well...yeah. I guess so. I'm sorry, Xi."

She felt him hesitate, and then, to her surprise, he leaned down and smacked his lips against hers in a quick, slightly off-center kiss.

There was a long pause.

"Ummm," he finally said in embarrassment.

"Can we...not do that again?" she asked awkwardly, and he gave a sheepish laugh and said, "Yeah. Sorry. ...I just thought-"

"I dunno-"

"Yeah."

They smiled at each other again, cheeks slightly pink. Then he hugged her again in a brotherly way and she affectionately patted her hand across his cropped head, and the balance between them seemed to settle again.

"Roxas?"

"Yeah?"

"I didn't bring any ice cream," she confessed. It was worse eating ice cream alone than it was eating none.

"That's okay, I brought two."

"Really?" she gasped.

He grinned and handed her a bar, only just a little melted.

"Yay!"

"My treat, since I messed up last year."

"Oh, good, I can forgive you now," she teased.

"I'm sorryyyyy!"

"Don't worry, it's okay now. Really." They went to sit on the ledge and eat their ice cream and talk until long past nightfall, just as they would for years to come.

o.o.o

Author's Notes: This was the fic I came up with Xion's middle name for, since she doesn't have one in the Stepsibsverse. (I use Acerbi as a surname when she and Sai are siblings, but not when they're unrelated.) Mya is the best I could get from "Myosotis" (Forget-me-not flowers).


	4. Axel, Roxas, & Xion

_**Bound by Fire**_**, a Kingdom Hearts fanfic series by Raberba girl**

**Part 4 of 6 - Axel, Roxas, & Xion (rough draft)**

_29 September 2012, North American anniversary of Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days_

Summary: In which Axel, Roxas, & Xion get their beach day.

A/N: Kind of like a canon-based "What if?" scenario, since obviously they never got to go to the beach together in any of the games yet. :(

**Prologue**

_"Pleeeaaase pretty please, Sai?"_

_"What are you, a first grader?"_

_"Onnnne little day off, just one teeny tiny day! That's not much to ask, is it?"_

_"In fact, it would be an extreme favor, considering that you just _had_ a vacation, and Xemnas has been getting on my case, and Xigbar and Demyx's fiasco last week set us back, and your precious Keybearers have been slacking off, and I'm up to my ears in giant Heartless reports, not to mention that we're _losing _manpower even as our workload is increasing-"_

_"You do realize I'm taking you out, too, right?"_

_"..."_

_"I know you hate my kids - which is why they hate you back, by the way; and have I reminded you lately that you're a heartless jerk and a moron? - so I thought all three of you'd enjoy yourselves more without each other's company."_

_"..."_

_"Unless you _want_ to go to the beach with us."_

_"...We can't afford another vacation day."_

_"Xemnas-sama probably thinks we can't afford keeping that Chihuahua you've been hiding in your room, either. I wonder why he hasn't tossed her into the Void yet? Oh! That's right, because he doesn't know about her! YET."_

_"I hope you get eaten by a Kraken."_

_"Be ready to leave as soon as I've got dinner for the kids. I'd recommend you obtain some jeans before then, you're gonna look like an idiot where we're going if you show up in uniform."_

_"Hmph."_

o.o.o

"_Really_?!" the Keybearers exclaimed in adorable unison, Xion leaping to her feet and Roxas dropping his ice cream. He didn't seem particularly upset about this. "We get to go to the beach?!"

"Yep."

They stared at him, wordlessly beaming in the way that always made Axel feel ridiculously awesome.

"We're going shopping first, though."

"Huh?"

"Why?"

"Well, do either of you even _own_ any clothes other than your uniforms?"

"I've got that black and white and tan thing," Roxas offered.

"Roxas, you're gonna be running around in acres of sand and seawater."

"...Okay?"

Well, guess it made sense that these little doofs thought it was normal to do things like get sent to Agrabah in full-length black coats and boots. "What I mean is, you're gonna need something more occasion-appropriate to wear. So! You guys done with your ice cream yet?"

Roxas looked down at Station Plaza where his ice cream had fallen. Xion hurriedly knocked the remainder of hers off against the ledge, then stuck the stick in her pocket for future disposal. They both smiled at him.

"All right, then, let's hit the shops."

The kids' reactions to swimwear were pretty much exactly as he predicted.

"What? I can't go out in this!" Roxas protested from behind the dressing room partition. "This is like underwear with pictures on it."

"Roxas, the fabric is different, it's supposed to be worn in water. That means it's okay to let girls see you in it."

"How does the _cloth_ have anything to do with whether I can wear it outside or not?"

"...Come to think of it, you kinda have a point."

Xion came out of the ladies' section, still wearing her coat.

"Something wrong, Xi?"

"No," she said self-consciously.

"What happened to the swimsuits you went to try on?"

"...I'm wearing one," she muttered.

"Under your coat?"

"Where else?"

"Xi, you're supposed to wear them by themselves."

"No, I'm not!"

"Xion-"

"Axel, they show my _skin_!"

"That's kind of the point..."

He eventually coaxed them into T-shirts, shorts, and flip-flops. They surveyed each other unhappily, Xion crossing her arms protectively over her chest and subconsciously posing even girlier than usual, Roxas restlessly tugging at the ends of the sleeves as if he thought that would make them stretch longer. "Your legs are really white," he observed.

"Your arms are really skinny," she realized.

"..."

"..."

"You both look great," Axel said reassuringly, even though what he really wanted to do was laugh.

They kind of rounded on him. "What about you, Axel?"

"Me?"

"I wanna see what you look like in beach clothes," Xion said interestedly.

"Urk..." Having no particular interest in showing off the distinctly countable ribs Saïx kept bugging him about, Axel came out in a T-shirt, shorts, and flip-flops as well. He raised an eyebrow. "Well?"

"Your legs are really white, too," Roxas noticed at once, as if he was doing a study on Organization member leg colors.

"And your arms are really skinny," Xion noted in a 'Yay, my friends have something in common!' tone.

Axel resisted the impulse to facepalm. "Well, that's what happens when you wear the uniform practically 24/7 and ignore Saïx's protein-nagging. Man, we're gonna look like idiots tomorrow, aren't we... Whatever. Okay! Now that we're all suited up, let's head home for some chow and get to bed before 11:00 for a change. Beach days are worth being well-rested for, heh."

The next morning, Axel was awakened before the time set on his alarm clock, even though he'd been careful to not actually set his alarm. "Whyyyy?" he moaned, pulling a pillow over his head and burrowing farther into the covers.

"But...isn't it Beach Day today?" Roxas said worriedly.

"There's a vacation notice in the Grey Area and everything," Xion added.

"It's not even 7:00 yet! Go back to _sleep_!"

When Axel woke up for real an hour or two later, he found the kids munching on Pop-Tarts and playing Monopoly at the foot of his bed. "I landed on Free Parking," Roxas was proclaiming triumphantly, "again!"

"No _fair_!" Xion shrieked.

"Sssshhhh! You'll wake up Axel!"

Axel stared. "Where in the multiverse did you even _find_ that game, much less-? You know what, never mind, I don't want to know."

"Axel!"

"Yay, you're up!"

Axel blarghed through his morning, trying to fend off the kids' enthusiastic impatience. Eventually, however, they were all dressed and fed and packed and ready to go, and came strolling out of a dark corridor into Twilight Town. "Can we ride a train, Axel?" Xion asked suddenly.

"Oh yeah," Roxas realized. "We've never actually gotten to ride a train, even though we've been here a billion times. And the times when I jump up on top of the tram until the driver stops and comes out and yells at me don't count."

"Have you ever considered actually paying the fare?" Axel asked in amusement.

"What's a fare?"

Life Lesson Number Six Billion Nine Thousand Two Hundred Seventy-Eight, or so it felt to Axel. The kids seemed to like it, though, talking to a clerk who was not a Moogle and getting to use munny for something other than synthesis material. "So," Roxas said as he looked happily at his shiny new ticket, "if I show this to the train driver, he'll let me inside the train this time?"

"They're called conductors, not drivers, and yes."

"You're really good at train riding, aren't you, Axel," Xion said admiringly.

He laughed and ruffled her hair. "It would be really, really lame if I was bad at something like that."

"...I'm not lame, am I?"

"You're making it really hard to not glomp you and squee, that's what you are."

"What does that even _mean_?"

They acted more like excited six-year-olds than teenagers (if you could even call these memoryless infant Nobodies teenagers...), moving from window to window and car to car, exclaiming over everything that breathed or moved or sparkled.

"Cool, I've never seen this part of Twilight Town before."

"Hey, look, the little girl on that other train is waving to us!"

"Oh, a food cart! Score!"

"Axel, that guy has his finger in his nose, I thought you said that's bad to do where other people can see."

"*gaaaaaasp* THEY HAVE ICE CREAM."

"Rox, you eat ice cream every da-"

"I'M GOING TO BUY SOME ICE CREAM FROM THE FOOD CART."

"...Knock yourself out."

Roxas happily came back with three bars of sea-salt, which he distributed before gluing himself back to the window. "Hey, Axel? If the sun sets red because red's the color that travels farthest, would it set blue or green or something when you go close to it? And how come blue and green can't go as far as red, anyway?"

Xion looked surprised. "Colors can get tired?"

Axel threw up his hands in amused, exasperated resignation. Which he wasn't complaining about, since it was, after all, a feeling. "Looks like the time has now come to explain how the universe works. Dang it, Sai was the one who wanted to be a teacher, not me..."

By the time Roxas and Xion had learned what the sun was made of and how it lit up Twilight Town and the definitions of words like "rotation" and "revolution," the train was pulling into the Gulfside station. They scampered out and immediately looked up at the sound of seagull cries overhead. "What are those?"

"Birds," Axel teased.

"I KNOW they're birds! I've just never seen them like that before..."

"They sound sad," Xion said.

"They're not sad, they're hungry. Don't feed them unless you want to get mobbed."

"But...if they're hungry...!"

Axel grinned. "Well, fine, then; try it." Then he took cover and laughed as he watched Xion and Roxas getting chased around the station platform by greedy seagulls.

"Axeeeelllll!"

"I _did_ warn you."

Apparently he _wasn't_ used to it yet - it was incredible how much they didn't know or hadn't thought of. That if they didn't strip down to their swimsuits before going in the water, their only clothes would be soaking wet and they'd have to RTC like that; the fact that flip-flops did not tend to stay on one's feet when one went cavorting in the ocean; the folly of touching jellyfish, no matter how invitingly squishy they looked; and on it went.

"You can make a castle out of sand?"

"Well, you know. Not a _real_ castle."

"Sooo...a Nobody castle?"

"You're joking right?" Axel said warily (it was usually hard to tell), and felt actual relief when they grinned at him. (Again with the feelings; what the heck was up with this lately?)

"It doesn't really look like a castle," Xion said critically when they had finished. "More like a sand pile."

"With shells stuck on it," Roxas added helpfully.

"Yeah, well, I never said I was an expert sandcastle-maker, okay?" Isa's castles were the ones that always looked like they could pose for magazine covers. "This is just _how_ people make sandcastles. They only actually look like castles if you have this thing called talent."

"Can we make sandhouses, too?" Roxas wondered. "Like the houses in Twilight Town?"

"Or sandtrains," Xion offered.

"SandKeyblades..."

"SandHeartless..."

"Guys, it's sand. Make whatever you want."

They suddenly looked interested. "Can we make a sandAxel, too?"

"Hey, where are you going with this?"

Of COURSE it ended up as a sand-fight. They ran around pelting each other with balls of damp sand and laughing at the top of their lungs, until they ended up too far out in the water and Xion tripped, splashing full length into the ocean.

"Xion!" Roxas stooped to grab her and was bowled over by an incoming wave. "Gaaahhh! It's cold!"

Xion laughed. "Your hair looks funny when it's wet, Roxas."

"His hair _always_ looks funny," Axel chuckled, scrubbing a hand through it.

"It does not! _Yours_ looks funnier."

"Hey, I _comb_ my hair, for one thing; and do you even know how much time I spend gelling it every morning?"

"I like it better without that goop," Xion said, and the two of them suddenly knocked Axel over as if they had planned it.

He came up sputtering, hands poised over his head in a horrified sort of way. "My haaaaaiiiiir!"

Roxas laughed. "Now you look like a girl."

"Hey!" Well, at least he could swim now without worrying about the 'do. "Rox, Xi, come out where it's deeper, I need to teach you guys something else."

They both picked it up shockingly quickly, first paddling and then stroking in wide circles around him like they were fish. Must be something to do with the original Island-dwelling Keybearer...

"This is fun."

"I like swimming."

"Yeah."

"Okay," Axel said a little worriedly, "which means that our next lesson is about these things called currents and undertows..."

He tired much faster than they did, what with his fire element not reacting so well to his body being submerged for so long. He actually needed their help getting back to shore, which was kind of humiliating. "I'm not actually a loser, you know...just really lazy..."

"Okay, Axel," Roxas said with a grin.

"Do you want some ice cream when we get back to the beach?" Xion asked, in the same tone little girls used when speaking to their baby dolls.

"...You guys are enjoying this, aren't you."

Not that he minded much when the three of them were lounging together on their beach towels, licking at their usual desserts in this very not-usual setting.

"You were right, Axel," Xion said happily. "The beach is really fun."

"Yeah. We have to come here again," Roxas said, as if it was already a done deal.

"Might not be easy, but I agree," Axel said. Sitting in the warmth of this sun and this friendship, with the best taste on his lips and his two favorite people for company... Fighting to hold onto this for as long as he could might be difficult, but it would always, always be worth it.


	5. Axel and Xion

_**Bound by Fire**_**, a Kingdom Hearts fanfic series by Raberba girl**

**Part 5 of 6 - Axel and Xion: Pastoral Mission (rough draft)**

_For my dearest Taliax. X3 You've been such a joy to talk to, my love, and we connect so delightfully in so many ways. (We also seem to have a bad habit of squicking each other out. XD We really ought to stop that...) Thank you for your sweetness and optimism, it means a lot to me! ^^_

Summary: Axel & Xion have a shared mission in a musical world.

A/N: Random canon, I guess. Ignores _Dream Drop Distance_. Makes reference to other fics like _Fire & Moonlight_ and CatC, but doesn't necessarily take place in those universes.

o.o.o

Shared missions were the best, at least when her partner was either Axel or Roxas. She didn't care where they were assigned in those cases, but of course some worlds were always better than others. "Do you like it when we get to see new worlds, Axel?" she asked curiously as they traversed the dark corridor.

He shrugged. "Dunno. Places like Neverland were cool the first time, but I kinda had my fill of Wonderland before we'd even been there ten minutes."

"I don't blame you," she giggled. "I think getting to fly is one of the best things there is, but Wonderland...um...is hard."

"You can say that again. I remember the first time me and S- The first time I was assigned there. We got stuck wandering around for _hours_, didn't get back 'til nearly midnight...I'd fallen from _inside an upside-down house_ into random trees about fifty times by then, and my partner'd lost his patience and gone berserk...multiple times..."

"How can we lose our patience if we don't have any emotions to get frustrated with?" Xion wondered teasingly.

"Right," Axel laughed. Then added more seriously, under his breath so that she thought she might not have been supposed to hear, "Though sometimes I wonder..."

The corridor ended atop a gorgeously green, grassy hill, overlooking a colorful rolling landscape.

"Ohhhh," Xion breathed, awestruck, "it's so beautiful here."

"This is a pretty world," Axel said thoughtfully. "I figured you'd like it, Xi."

She glanced over at him curiously. "You make it sound like you brought me here on purpose."

He winked. "Well, I did pull a few strings."

"Really?!"

"Yep. Saïx was gonna pair me with Xaldin instead, but I convinced him you'd be better for the job."

She gulped. "I'd better work hard, then..."

"Relax, Xi, it's just recon. You'll do fine."

Xion yelped as something snuffled in her ear. She spun around in a panic, pressing her hands protectively against her head.

The - CUTEST - little - tiny - flying - horsie - was hovering there in the air, looking at her curiously. So were several chubby naked winged babies, but they were far less interesting than the adorable horsiiiieeeee!

"What is that!?" Xion screamed in delight.

"A baby pegasus."

"Aaaahhhhh!" Xion glomped the creature, which brayed in alarm, struggled free of her arms, dashed higher, gazed down at her uncertainly, then suddenly swooped back and licked her cheek before flying away. "Axeeeellllll!"

"Yeah, I saw it," he said in amusement, pulling out a bent and battered notebook. "_Observed one pegasus foal and four cupids of assorted hair colors._ There, easy."

"And they expect me to aaaanalyze that?!" Xion said in rapture, smiling broadly as the cupids started plaiting her hair. "It's too cute to analyze!"

"Hm," Axel mused. "_Inhabitants appear to transport themselves via natural aviation. Possibly the terrain is unstable and therefore less suitable for ambulatory transportation._"

Xion snorted and tapped one foot against the ground. "Feels stable enough to me."

"You wanna give the analysis a shot, then?" Axel challenged.

"No!"

"Thought so. Ahem." Axel pretended to scribble more notes. "_The outrageous hair colors leads one to believe that either the locals contain anime chromosomes in their genetic structures, or else they use hair products similar to those endorsed by our Organization_-"

"I think you're just making all that up."

"Of course I am. What's the fun of doing recon in a world like this if you have to do it properly?" Axel shoved the notebook back in his seemingly bottomless pocket and then flung himself down the hill. "Wheeee!"

Xion burst into laughter. "You are ridiculous!" she called down to him. Then lay down and rolled in his wake, yelling "Wheeeee!" This was incredibly stupid. And also super-fun.

At the bottom of the hill flowed a stream, along which flower petals steadily floated by. Xion and Axel were drawing the attention of more and more cupids, who circled them with great interest before darting off to whisper eagerly to each other.

"You think they're planning something?" Axel wondered idly.

"I don't know. You're the expert on this world, right?"

Axel snorted. "I wish. This place can be weirder than Wonderland in its own way."

"Really?"

"Yeah." He winked. "WAY more fun, though."

That's when the flutes started up. The Nobodies looked over to find several of the small humanoid creatures playing an inviting tune, obviously wishing to draw them farther along.

"Where are they taking us?" Xion murmured, following the call with some hesitation.

"Probably somewhere involving fermented fruit juice and blatant matchmaking, but don't worry, I'll keep an eye on you."

o.o.o.o.o

MORE HORSIES. AAAAHHHHHH. Big ones and tiny ones and flying ones and ones that were half human, and XION WANTED TO FETCH ROXAS AND LIVE HERE WITH HIM AND AXEL FOREVER AND EVER AND EVER. "This is my favorite world," she declared, cuddling two happily nickering foals in her arms.

"I admit the pros outweigh the cons," Axel said distractedly, backing away from yet another group of centaurs eagerly brandishing goblets of wine at him. "No thanks, ladies, please! I swear that was just a one-time thing back then, really, I'm not interested, Xi's underage and we're on the clock and Sai'll kill me if he finds out I've been drinking..."

"What's wrong with drinking?" Xion wondered in confusion.

"...Number XIV, do NOT touch anything here that's not water. Orders from your sempai."

"Um, okay," she said uncertainly. Then squealed as a centaur seized her around the waist, cuddled her almost exactly like she'd been cuddling the foals, and passed her off to someone else.

It turned out to be some sort of dance, which got wilder and more fun as the music gradually reached a crescendo. Xion whirled amongst flowers and arms and hooves and colorful long hair, feeling breathless and elated, awestruck at the skill with which the dancers moved and avoided injuring anyone. There seemed to be patterns, too; shifting and subtle at first, but more and more noticeable as the music flowed on.

At one point, Xion thought they were dancing in a large circle, but then everyone suddenly broke off into partners, except that all the partners were constantly changing hands. Then the brawny blue-skinned centaur into whose arms she had landed spun her around and down, and suddenly Axel was holding her. He looked flushed and just as breathless as she felt, his hair in wild disarray, but his green eyes were shining in a way she wasn't used to seeing on him - full of joy and lacking in his usual burdensome cares, more sincere and passionate than any Nobody's eyes should look like.

"You're beautiful," he whispered to her unexpectedly.

She stared. "What?"

For a moment, he looked startled, then smiled a little sheepishly and let her regain her feet, though his hands rested affectionately on her shoulders. "It's hard to describe... Your eyes are _sparkling_ right now." He raised a hand, hesitated, then pulled off his glove so he could trail his fingertips down her cheek unhindered. "I wish...that smile of yours could somehow last forever."

She rested her palm against the front of his coat. "You know...I was just thinking that about you, too. You look nicer than you ever did before."

"Oh, thanks," he snorted.

She shook her head, grinning. "No. Come on, Axel. Your eyes are sparkling too, you know?"

He studied her thoughtfully. "This really is a great world, isn't it."

"I told you it was my favorite," she reminded him with a smile.

He grinned back. "Even better than Twilight Town?"

"Well..."

"We should bring Roxas here next time."

"Yeah." If she could have both her friends here, seeing them so happy, being so happy together with them... That was all she wanted. She knew that was all Roxas wanted, too. Axel was more complicated, harder to understand, but that clarity in his eyes now, so much easier to grasp than his usual guarded expressions...

Axel let out a long sigh, then dutifully dug out the notebook again. "_Inhabitants seem to engage in a ritualistic dance, the purpose of which I theorize might relate to_-"

Mischievously, Xion yanked the notebook out of his hands and tossed it into the air. It never reached the ground, since a couple of overeager pegasi foals got to it first.

"Hi, Saïx," Axel mused idly as he watched, "sorry I don't have a mission report for ya this time, but see, these baby rainbow-colored flying ponies ate my notes, I hope you don't mind."

Xion giggled. "Saïx isn't as mean to you as he is to everyone else, I'm sure you'll be fine."

"True. He'll still be ticked, though."

"Axel?"

"Yeah?"

"Why _is_ Saïx not as mean to you as he is to everyone else?"

"Probably because I have insane amounts of blackmail on him. C'mon, let's go see what's going on over- Whoa!"

Xion shrieked in surprise as something huge and black came flapping out of nowhere right behind her. "A-Axel! I-It's a...! It's a...!" Not another foal, definitely. The foals actually came cavorting joyfully all around the large black pegasus, which towered over Xion and gazed down her with frightening crimson eyes. "I wasn't hurting your babies, I promise," Xion whispered.

"Hey," Axel started to say in alarm, summoning his chakrams.

The pegasus lord suddenly seized the shoulder of Xion's coat in his teeth and tossed her onto his back as if she weighed no more than a sash. Then he took flight.

"XI!" Axel yelled. Then emitted a decidedly less impressive sound as another adult pegasus - this one female and white as a cloud - head-butted him in the back and then caught him with one powerful wing as he lost his balance. "Urgh, wait a sec," he gasped, trying to get his breath back. She nuzzled his face affectionately, nearly knocking him over again, then knelt. Unsteady from her playful aggression, he sprawled half across her back; she effortlessly adjusted his weight distribution with her wings, then took off after her mate. "WAIT!" Axel shrieked, clinging on for dear life. "Argh, flying is _so_ not my thing!"

After a while, though, he got used to it. Flying on pegasusback was decidedly different from gliding on pixie-dust, but...once one became accustomed...it was quite enjoyable in its own way. Didn't have to expend all that concentration on the mechanics, though the nervousness of being so high aloft was exacerbated by having to trust a non-human creature he'd only just met. "Hey...Snowball...be nice to me, okay?"

She wasn't.

To his relief, Axel could see Xion in the lake below, looking perfectly fine still astride the black pegasus. Axel's own mount began to descend as well. "Whoa now, Snowball, we're going kinda fast. I think, um, hey, whoa, whoa whoa HEY-!"

Then at the last second, she flapped mightily to slow down and entered the water with barely a ripple. Axel, however, couldn't keep his hold, and tumbled headfirst into the lake.

He surfaced in a flail of limbs and splashing water. "Gaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh! Cold and wet and cold and waaahhhh, Flurry of Dancing Flames is not happy!"

Snowball nickered smugly.

"I totally saw that!" Axel tried lobbing a wave at her, but then just stood there with his arms wrapped tightly around himself, shivering. He felt sick.

"Axel!" Xion was craning anxiously over the black stallion's shoulder as the pegasus leisurely waded over to the red-haired Nobody.

"X-X-Xion-n-n..."

She hastily dismounted and swam over to him, shoving him toward the pegasus as best she could. "Are you okay?"

"N-N-No..."

Somehow, she got him up on the black pegasus's back, then swam around to the other side and gently pushed Axel's waterlogged spiky locks out of his face. "Will a Potion help?"

"C-Couldn't h-hurt," he said through chattering teeth, too miserable to care how ridiculous he must look, flopped over the horse's back like so much luggage.

"Hey, his element is fire," Xion lectured the lady pegasus. "Don't go dumping him in water like that again, okay?"

Once the black pegasus had reached land, Axel tumbled off onto the shore, then grinned weakly as the female came up and nuzzled him apologetically, her warm nose comforting the damp flesh of his cheek. "'S okay, Snowball," he murmured with a small smile.

"Her name is Snowball?" Xion wondered.

"No clue. Not like she can tell me or anything."

"I _thought_ it was an odd name! She's beautiful, Axel, you can't go calling her after that little yappy dog in Twilight Town!"

"What would _y-you_ name her, th-then?" Axel challenged, still huddled and shivering.

"I dunno. Something graceful and elegant. Like...Rumalia, or something."

Axel snorted in amusement.

"What's wrong with that?!"

"Oh, nothing. Just that 'Rumalia' happens to be a certain Somebody's name...heh, though he's such a fruit, he probably wouldn't care if he's got a girl pegasus named after him."

"Rumalia," Xion mused, "Rumalia...oh! I get it." Axel didn't answer, and she frowned, looking at him more closely. "Are you really okay, Axel?"

"I'm fine..."

Xion thought a moment, then crawled closer and draped her arms around his shoulders.

He laughed. "Trying to warm me up?"

"Yes."

"I appreciate the thought, Xi, but you're soaking wet yourself."

It was true. She could still feel tremors going through his body as she held him. "Hm." She herself was quite comfortable, though. It was a beautiful day, and the sun was warm. "I wonder..."

She closed her eyes. She could _feel_ the sun's rays on her cheek, almost see them if she concentrated. Like waves, almost. Sort of. If she could...sort of guide the light...gather it up from around them and focus it all on Axel...maybe the light's warmth that it carried could...

After a long time, Xion, who felt like she'd fallen into a doze, was startled awake when Axel cleared his throat. "I was gonna go squawking 'How'd you do that!?' like an idiot, but...heh, guess those light powers of yours aren't completely useless."

"Me and Roxas helped during that power outage," Xion grumbled, settling down beside Axel again. She smiled a little, mollified, as he wrapped his arm around her shoulders.

"I know, I was joking. It's just that when the chick ahead of you two can blast everything with lightning - after she rips it apart with daggers, that is, - and the guy before her slings around a giant honking scythe, and the guy before him can play with the space/time continuum like it's Play-Doh, and on down the line - hearing you two going 'We wield the power of light!' sounds kind of lame."

"It is not so lame," she pouted.

"It _is_ lame. Adorably lame. Then when the bad guys are standing there laughing their heads off at you two doofs, you can take 'em by surprise with your magical powers of coat-drying."

Xion smiled, pulling off her glove to touch the fabric of Axel's coat. Sure enough, it wasn't even damp anymore. "You feeling better?"

"Yeah. Thanks, Xi." Axel flopped back onto the grass, smiling idly up at the sky as he crossed his arms behind his head. "This really is a great world..."

"I'm glad you brought me here," she said, wishing she could take off her heavy boots.

Strangely, a gentle shower of pink petals began drifting down around them. Shielding her eyes, Xion frowned up at the tree boughs over their heads, where a group of dreamy-eyed cupids were watching them, shaking blossom-laden branches. "Um, what are you guys doing?"

"Oi," Axel called up, "she's only fourteen - fourteen WEEKS, not years - so you better not be getting any funny ideas."

Xion stared. "What does my age have to do with falling flower petals?"

"You don't watch enough movies...which in this case is a good thing." Axel climbed to his feet and grinned, holding out a hand to help her up. "C'mon, Xi, let's go find some unicorns for you."

Xion gasped and scrambled to her feet as well, realizing too late that she'd completely forgotten to accept the help. "There are _unicorns_ here, too?" she asked eagerly.

"Yep. Little baby ones, all sorts of colors-"

"Squeeeeee!"

"Heh, I knew you'd like that."

o.o.o

Author's Notes: **"Snowball" was...rather OOC, I think.** *sweatdrop* Maybe she's only maternal and decorous with her own family.

**"Rumalia" is Infamousplot's theory on Marluxia's real name. I rather like that one.**

Lol, the manga has given me the impression that flying is not exactly Axel's forte. XD

The power outage thing was a reference to my fic _When The Lights Go Out_.

Thanks to _Stepsiblings_, apparently my headcanonXion is now a pony lover in addition to being a dog lover. *sweatdrop*


	6. Axel, Saïx, Roxas, & Xion

_**Bound by Fire**_**, a Kingdom Hearts fanfic series by Raberba girl**

**Part 6 of 6 - Axel, Saïx, Roxas, & Xion (rough draft)**

Summary: Seven-year-old Xion and six-year-old Roxas decide to pick up their teenage big brothers from school.

A/N: _Stepsiblings_ universe. Starts out in Roxas's simplistic third person style, later switches to first person with Axel. Then, because I couldn't help it, I went and added sections to be narrated by Saïx and Xion, too. *sweatdrop*

o.o.o

**Part 1 - Roxas**

Xion and the teachers called them "early release" days, but Roxas knew they were just half days. Instead of having to wait alllllll the way until the big hand was on the 8 and the little hand was on the 2, they got to leave school RIGHT AFTER LUNCH. It was awesome.

"I don't _understand_," Roxas's teacher said for the millionth time. Xion's teacher was standing next to her, looking mad. "Both of your names are on the after-school care list, but you both also have notes saying you're supposed to ride the bus home."

"I called their father," Xion's teacher said. "Mr. Acerbi said that they're to stay here and will be picked up at the regular time."

"Xem's not my dad," Roxas told her. "My dad's dead. We give him cake and flowers and potato chips. Xem's my _stepdad_."

They ignored him, like usual. Axel and Saïx were the only grown-ups who ever listened to him much. Except they weren't really real grown-ups yet, so Roxas was kind of afraid they'd stop listening to him when they grew up for real.

"But I called their mother - Roxas's mother, whatever," his teacher was saying, "and she said they ride the bus."

"Yes, because we all know how reliable Roxas's mother is," Xion's teacher said, rolling her eyes. Mommy sometimes slapped Axel when he did that and said "Don't you dare roll your eyes at me!" so Roxas wished he could slap this lady, too. But when you did things like that at school, you got sent to the time-out chair or to the principal, and Mommy and Xem would get mad, so he didn't hit her.

"I'm going to call again," said Roxas's teacher, but Mommy didn't answer this time and neither did Xem. "They're saying that Mr. Acerbi's in a meeting," she said, looking mad, "and now I can't get hold of Mrs. Acerbi at all."

"Mommy is Ms. Hayes-King," Roxas grumbled, even though everyone kept telling him that was wrong now.

"But they got married," Xion said, patting his head. "Now she's Mrs. Acerbi because she's Daddy's wife."

"She wasn't Mrs. Acerbi before. That's stupid."

"Maybe she's Mrs. Hayes-King Acerbi."

"Yeah, maybe." He wondered curiously how many names he could get if he had a lot of kids and married a lot of people.

The teachers were still talking like they didn't exist. "What about those boys who always pick them up? They're the older brothers, right?"

"Doesn't matter, they're not legal guardians."

"Saïx is my guardian," Xion said, but they ignored her, too.

Someone on the walkie talkie said that the buses were about to leave.

"How about this," Roxas's teacher decided. "We'll put them on the bus, and if there's no one waiting for them, the driver can bring them back to school."

"I don't wanna come back to school!" Roxas yelled, and they told him to be quiet.

Xion was really, really excited because it was the first time she had ever ridden a school bus in her life. "It's so big!" she yelled as they climbed up the steps.

"It's smelly," Roxas said.

"Roxas and Xion will be riding home with you, here's their address," Roxas's teacher said and gave the driver a card, but then she suddenly ran back down the steps and started yelling at a kid who had just punched some other kid on the sidewalk.

The bus was full of lots and lots of kids, so they had to squish together in a seat with another boy who was kneeling backwards, talking real loud to the kids in the seat behind them. The bus driver kept telling the kid to sit down.

"It's really loud," Xion said. Roxas covered her ears for her, and she smiled at him really big. He liked making her smile, it felt like he was the older one for a change instead of always having to be the baby.

The bus drove for a long time. It got quieter and quieter as kids kept leaving, and finally Roxas and Xion were the only ones left on the bus. Roxas was playing ponies with her because there was no one else to see.

"Holy cow," the driver whistled, "you kids live in a nice part of town."

"Xem's rich," Roxas said. He pointed Katana like a gun and made shooting noises. "Bwshbwshbwshbwshbwsh! The dragon's dead."

"Oh NOOO!" Xion cried in horror. "I'm sorry, Mr. Dragon! My friend Glimmerbreeze-I-mean-Katana is really a nice person, he just likes guns too much and gets carried away! Quick, Glim- Katana, let's weep tears of healing so the dragon won't die!"

"If we cry on someone who got shot, he'll come back?" Roxas asked interestedly, and mentally filed the new rule away for future reference.

"Well, here we are," the driver said doubtfully, pulling up in front of the house. "Is there anyone to pick you up?"

"I dunno," said Roxas.

"Let's check," said Xion.

They went out and ran across the yard and rang the doorbell a lot. Nothing happened.

"Let's see if Mom left the back window open again," Xion said.

They ran around the house and yanked on the window. It went up. "Ta da!" Roxas said proudly, and started to climb in.

REET REET REET REET REET! the house yelled. Xion screamed and clapped her hands over her ears, and Roxas was so surprised that he fell out into the yard again.

"The alarm went off," he realized.

The bus driver ran up, looking scared. "C'mon, kids, c'mon, c'mon, c'mon, back on the bus...!"

They went back on the bus and drove away fast. The bus was really noisy and rattly. They drove and drove, then they stopped and the driver sat there with his face in his hands, breathing funny.

"Are you okay?" Roxas asked, wondering if he should try to cry on him to make him feel better. But maybe that only worked on people who got shot.

"What am I gonna do?" the bus driver asked. "Is it okay to just take them back to school? I'm not gonna get in trouble, right?"

"I don't wanna go back to school," Roxas told him loudly.

Xion gasped, looking happy. "I know! I know! Roxas, do you not want to go to _any_ school, or just our school?"

"I hate school," he said.

Then she looked sad. "Oh. Never mind, then."

Now he was curious. "What were you gonna say?"

"Well...I was just thinking...it's only an early release day for me and you, right? Saïx and Axel are still at their school like usual."

"Oh yeah!"

The driver didn't look very happy and he still looked a little scared, but he drove them to the high school and dropped them off and waited until they ran into the front office.

"Hi!" Xion told the ladies at the front desk.

The desk ladies gasped and cooed like most ladies (and Axel) did whenever Roxas and Xion made their Cute Faces. "Oooooh! Who are _you_, sweetheart?"

"I'm Xion! This is my little brother, Roxas."

"I'm not that little," he reminded her.

"We came to pick up our big brothers!"

All the ladies laughed a whole lot. "Did you, now?"

"Yup. Saïx Sirius Acerbi and Axel Doo- Day..."

"Deucalion," Roxas said proudly. Axel's middle name was really hard, but Roxas knew how to say it right because he was smart. "Axel Deucalion Hayes is my brother. We're gonna sign them out and take them home with us, because it's our turn this time."

"They are just too _cuuuute_!" one of the ladies yelled, and the rest were all laughing again.

**Part 2 - Axel**

My partner and I are allegedly analyzing a poem when an office aide walks in to give a note to the teacher. I don't think much of it until Ms. Taft calls my name. "Axel, they want you in the front office."

"Huh?" I glance at my partner - out of reflex, as if he has any more of a clue what it's about than I do - but he just shrugs. "Okay. Am I going home?"

"No, leave your things."

Out in the courtyard, I'm surprised to see Saïx heading up from the elective wing. "Oi, Sai!"

He glances up at me. _surprise curiosity apprehension confusion_ "Did you get called out of class as well?"

"Yeah. You have any idea what it's about?"

_uncertainty discontent _"..." _fear anxiety apprehension desperation_ and then his Angstland stuff starts up again.

I get a bad feeling.

"Today was an early release day at the elementary schools. I hope that nothing happened to Xion and Roxas. If their school's staff had trouble reaching our parents-"

I don't even remember to reply, I run the rest of the way to the office and burst through the doors as if there's a fire in the hall behind me.

"There he is!"

"Axel!"

My darling little brother and sister, romping toward me like a pair of puppies and looking completely unhurt. For a second I want to throttle Saïx for scaring me, but then the confusion sets in. What in the world are these two _doing_ here?

"We came to pick you up," Xion says importantly.

I'm already kneeling down to hug Roxas. "You came to..._huh_?" Xion wants into the hug too for a second, but just when I'm putting my arm around her, her face lights up and she breaks free again to pounce on Saïx, who's just come through the door.

"_There_ you are!"

"Are you all right, Xion?" he asks sharply.

"We're fine, nobody died," she assures him.

"Who said anything about dying?" he bursts out indignantly, but I smile a little because he has no idea just how much we can pick up from those eyes of his. I think the kids might be even better at it than I am.

"It seems like there was some sort of mix-up at their school," one of the secretaries says. "No one can reach Mr. or Mrs. Acerbi, and they couldn't stay alone at home, so they were dropped off here."

"The alarm went off," Roxas tells me. "Mommy left the back window open again. I tried to climb in, but the house got mad."

"You got kicked out, huh?" I say absently, still holding him.

"How did they get here?" Saïx demands. There's an uneasy rustling, and I know the secretaries are scared of him.

"They...well..."

"The bus dropped us off," Xion explains. "Saïx, I rode a _school bus_! It was so cool!"

"The driver of an elementary school bus dropped you off _here_?" Saïx says in disbelief.

Roxas runs to the window. "He drove away," he observes, not looking as if he particularly cares. "I hope he's not scared anymore so I don't have to cry on him."

There is a very long pause.

"Right," Saïx finally says. "So now what are we supposed to do?"

"We sign the clipboard!" Xion crows triumphantly. "The ladies showed me!" She runs to grab it off the front desk.

"Xion," Saïx starts to say, but then Xi is trotting back to him, flinging herself to the floor at his feet. Roxas comes over and plops down, too.

"Vvvviiiiissssiiiitooorrr," Xion reads obnoxiously. "Ssssiiii-" She pauses. "Siginin. Saïx, what's siginin?"

"It's 'sign-in,' but stop that; give me the clipboard."

"No! I get to do it this time!"

They're cracking me up. I watch as Xion grips the pen tight and carves Saïx's name into the paper.

"Put two dots on the i," Roxas reminds her.

"Yeah, I know," she says amiably.

"Gimme the pen, I get to do Axel."

"Okay."

Roxas writes an A. Then he writes an L.

"NO!" I yell. "It's X! _X_!"

Roxas stops, confused.

"You're writing 'Alexa,'" Xion giggles.

"Oops." Roxas scratches the whole thing out, pauses, writes another A, pauses, then takes a deep breath and proudly takes up three for four rows with the next letter. "I remembered the X," he says proudly.

"Good job, Rox!" I say, watching the _IMPATIENCE_ writhing in Saïx's eyes. "Now an E."

The two of us are finally 'signed out.' On the visitor sign-in sheet, but whatever.

"Yay, we did it!" Xion cheers. "We get to take you home now."

"Xion, there are still several hours left before dismissal," Saïx says flatly. "We're not going anywhere."

"The kids can't either, though," I muse. "What are we gonna do, take 'em with us to class?"

And so, a few minutes later, I'm strolling back into English class with my six-year-old little brother in tow. "I'm back," I tell Ms. Taft. "This is Roxas."

She stares down at him.

He absently grips a fistful of my uniform and stares back.

"He's kinda stranded today," I explain, "so I had to bring him to class. He'll be good." I'd talked to Roxas a lot on the way here. _"_Be good_, be really, really, really good, or they'll kick you out and you'll be all alone on the streets and I won't get to see you."_ Not mentioning, of course, that if Roxas actually _did_ get kicked off campus - which probably wouldn't happen, - I'd be right on his heels without even sparing a thought for my truancy record.

"He looks like a kindergartener," she says blankly.

"I'm a FIRST grader," Roxas corrects sullenly.

She suddenly narrows her (mischievously sparkling) eyes, crouches down to his level, and says sternly, "If you _dare_ distract your big brother from his schoolwork, or make any fart noises or pick your nose, I won't let you leave this room until you've written out a copy of that _entire Shakespeare book_," she says, pointing.

Roxas grips my uniform even harder and tries to disappear behind me. "I can't write a book."

"Then I guess you'd better behave~," she sing-songs.

"Okay."

"He'll be good," I promise. "Really."

I turn around to go back to my desk and realize that we're surrounded by adoring fangirls. Except they're not after me for once.

"He is so cuuuuuteee!"

"Axel," Roxas whimpers, "I said I'd be good. Don't let them eat me."

"Maybe you should stop looking so eatable," I suggest, picking him up for safety.

"He's like a little dolllll!"

"Just _look_ at that adorable sulky face!"

"Aw, don't be scared, cutie, we _love_ you!"

Roxas hides his face and mumbles "Make them go away" into my neck.

"Sorry, Rox..." Maybe it was a bad idea to pick him up - they're all practically dying of squee as they stare at me holding him. "Hey," I tell them, "I need to analyze my poem."

They all burst into laughter, but finally Ms. Taft shoos them away and we all pretty much get back to work. "So," I say. Roxas is sitting on the floor, drawing a picture of ponies shooting guns and arrows at each other on the back of my copy of the poem. "What was the first line, again?" Because we never actually read the poem, but now I want to at least pretend I'm being busy so that Roxas doesn't get in trouble.

My partner squints at his copy of the paper, which is pretty bedraggled-looking since he's been tearing bits off the edges to use for spitballs. "I dunno. _'Come to me, O ye children!'_"

"Huh?"

"That's the first line." I tug the paper closer and skim through the rest of the poem. _'Ah! what would the world be to us if the children were no more? We should dread the desert behind us worse than the dark before.'_

I get an uncomfortable image in my head of Roxas and Xion dead. _'That's what Sai sees,'_ I suddenly realize. He'd seen Xion almost dead before, for real. He'd seen his _mother_ dead, no almost about it. Years ago, before we'd met them. _"We're fine, nobody died,"_ Xion had told him earlier. Maybe that's what he sees in his mind, every time he thinks that she and now Roxas are in danger, the same thing I'm picturing now.

_'Ye are better than all the ballads that ever were sung or said,'_ the end of the poem says. _'For ye are living poems, and all the rest are dead.'_ That's...a good thing, right? It's not...it's not literally 'dead,' he just means...words on paper...different from living flesh, from children who can still walk and speak and watch me with blue eyes full of expression...

"Axel, why are you looking at me like that?" Roxas asks curiously.

"Quit spacing out, man," my partner complains. "Hurry up and figure out what it means."

"Uh, we're partners?" I remind him, trying to shake myself out of it. Roxas is _fine_. "You're supposed to, yanno, _help_ me figure out what it means."

I'm glad that lunch is next, because I really, really want to see Xion right now. When I first came to this school, I made fun of Saïx for 'hiding' that way he does, eating alone outside with a book when he could be inside with other people. But I found out pretty quickly...

The less snooty girls are always all over me, they think I'm hot (well, 'cuz I am, heh), and they get a kick out of how I can deal with Saïx in a way no other idiot at this school has figured out yet. They give me messages for him, mostly stupid ones that I don't bother passing on, and flirt with me like crazy. But they're kind of annoying, and the sad thing is that they're the best I have. The girls who are more full of themselves look down on me, like I'm some kind of grubby intruder on their turf because of my mom's 'trashy' family.

Most of the guys here are the same, except they also hate me because they hate Saïx. Saïx scares the heck out of everyone, and so the ones with the most to prove try to make his life miserable when they get the chance. A lot easier when they can get his eyes covered. The first couple of times I saw it happen, I just threw myself in there without a second's thought. I got in more trouble than I would have back at the public school, though; not just with the school, but with Mom _and_ Xem.

So I behave now, which means I couldn't defend myself when they went after me for revenge, but...heh. Saïx always has my back. It used to surprise me, since he's usually so...Saïxey. But Xion's right. Doesn't matter whether he actually likes you or not; once you belong to him, he'll crush anyone who tries to hurt you. The two of us can be like night and day, it's enough to make me want to punch him sometimes, but as far as protecting our family goes, we've always been in perfect agreement.

So yeah, Saïx and I don't eat in the cafeteria.

I have to go in there to buy something for Rox, though. He already ate at his own school, but if I ever try to eat in front of him, he'll get bored and start picking pieces off my own meal whether he's hungry or not. In the line, one or two guys comment on "the midget," and girls keep cooing at him or reaching over to try to pat down his spiky hair. He keeps batting them away like they're flies. "What do you want to eat, Rox-my-socks?" I ask, hoisting him up so he can see the lunch choices.

"I want Jell-o."

I laugh. "Okay, but what _else_ do you want to eat?"

"Umm...that and that and that," he says, pointing.

As the lady is handing me the little disposable dishes to put on our tray, someone suddenly grabs me around the waist at exactly Xion height, which is the only reason I don't freak out and hit whoever it is. "Hey, princess," I say, looking down and glad that I was right.

She's beaming up at me adorably. "Hi, Axel!"

"You want anything to eat, too?"

"No, I'm not hungry," she says, still hugging me.

"Roxas got some Jell-o, you want some of that, too?"

"Oh, yeah! No, wait, a cookie! Or...um, I don't know."

"I'll get you both, Xi, how does that sound?"

"Yay! I love you!"

"So if I didn't buy you Jell-o and a cookie, you wouldn't love me?" I tease.

She stares at me. "I love you always forever."

"Awesome."

Saïx is waiting for us, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed, face turned away so his fake doomgaze won't bother the lunch ladies. It's bothering other people, though, which is stupid because he's not doomgazing for real, the only thing in his eyes is boredom. The girls at the table closest to him are hunched together gossiping in self-defense, the guys father down are glaring at him.

It's kind of hilarious, watching their expressions change to shock and amazement when our little sister goes running right up to him. "Sai-Sai! Axel bought me junk food!"

"Splendid," he says sarcastically, reaching to take her hand. I swear, the 'Lovely Item' thing actually does work: he's standing there in all his glaring scar-faced glory, but he actually looks cute just because he's got an adorable seven-year-old girl swinging off the end of his arm.

"I already ate my real lunch, so it's okay."

He makes a noncommittal grunt.

"I can give you half my cookie, too."

"I do not want half of your cookie."

"Pleeeaaase, Sai-Sai, eat half a cookie?"

This is fun, and I'm curious. "Hey, Rox," I say, "run over and make Sai-Sai pick you up."

"Why?"

"To make me laugh."

He shrugs and goes over and lifts up his arms. "Pick me up, Saïx."

"Why?"

"To make Axel laugh."

Saïx glares over at me, and I grin back and indicate with my eyes the way half the cafeteria is staring at him with the two small children. "No."

Roxas plops down on his foot and wraps both arms tightly around his leg. "Try to walk now," he challenges.

Saïx makes a huge sigh and gives in. "Stop that. I'll pick you up."

"Yay! I love you, Saïx!" Roxas says mischievously.

"DO NOT even think of starting that up, too."

"Or what~?" is the challenge.

Saïx pauses. Then suddenly scoops him up over his shoulder and marches over to the trash can in this Really Businesslike way.

"No! No! Wait!" Roxas screams, except I can barely understand him because he's laughing almost too hard to speak. "Noooo, don't throw me awayyyyy...!" I think Sai is actually going more for the Ultimate Pit Of Germs angle, but whatever works.

I quickly herd them all outside before anyone can get Saïx arrested for fake child abuse or something. The sky's clear, a little hot but it's fine with shade. Xion insists that we're having a 'picnic,' and uses my school jacket to spread out on the grass under a tree when Saïx refuses to lend her his. Mr. Prim-and-proper insists on keeping his entire uniform together even in this weather.

Roxas sits in my lap at first like he usually does, but polishes off his Jell-o in, like, a minute, and the rest of his food in less than ten, then gets bored. He and Xion start trying to collect ants, with Xion constantly shrieking for him not to hurt them until she finally assigns him the task of keeping them all together in a tiny makeshift corral. Saïx is watching the two of them as if he has absolutely no clue how he ended up related to them. I'm watching the three of them and just...I dunno. Enjoying them. They're so cute. I love them all so much.

Saïx's gaze shifts, and I look over my shoulder to see a group of girls - some of the giggly ones who like me - making their way over to us. They stop abruptly, giggling more than ever in this nervous kind of way. I can't decide whether I want them to brave out Saïx's eyes or get scared off. Eventually they win, and cautiously keep coming over until their shadows cover the ant corral.

Roxas looks up in annoyance. "Get out of the sun, I can't see the ponies."

They all shriek with laughter. Then about five of them descend on him, and I can't rescue him because three are clinging adoringly to my shoulders, a couple of them are cuddling a happy Xion, and one of them has even crept apprehensively up to Saïx, who's leaning away as if she has cooties.

"Can we sit with you guys?" one of them giggles in my ear.

"Umm..."

"Get off me! I'm not cute!" Roxas yells.

"Yes, you are~," they sing, fluffing his hair in that way he hates.

"I'm cute," Xion purrs, basking.

"Yes, you are~," the girls purr back, snuggling her like the big sisters she'll never have.

"We're trying to eat," Saïx growls.

"Can I feed you?" his fangirl asks interestedly.

_shock horror disgust desperation_

"Saïx," one of the others says, "I never knew you were so good with kids."

"I'm not." He's edging closer to Roxas, who wriggles free and presses close to him, pulling Saïx's school jacket around himself protectively. Saïx looks like he minds _way_ less than usual. The girls are taking pictures now. ...I kinda don't blame 'em.

"So _cute_!"

"Is he your little brother, Saïx?"

He glares. _embarrassment pride_ "All four of us are siblings."

"Oooooh!"

"I didn't know that!"

"Yeah." I manage to get free and scoot closer to my brothers. "The kids are hanging out with us today."

Xion finally catches on that the rest of us aren't exactly basking in the attention, and crawls over to join us. Saïx and I don't even look at each other, we just move close until the kids are nestled safely between us.

"Why haven't you brought them sooner?"

"They're adorable!"

"Axel," Xion whispers, not quietly enough, "is it bad I'm adorable?"

"If you wanna go get cuddled some more," I whisper back, "go ahead."

"Nope. I wanna stay with you." She links one arm through mine and the other through Saïx's, and grins at the girls. "My big brothers are really cool."

They burst into laughter again.

"Yup!"

"That they are..."

"Hotties, too."

Xion cocks her head. "Saïx, what's a hottie?"

"It means they come to your house and push him down on the couch and kiss him so he ignores you," Roxas grumbles.

Whaaaat?! "When did that ever happen!?"

"The girl with the curly hair who smelled like fruit."

Ummmm...that doesn't...narrow it down much... "I never ignored you!"

"Yes, you did. I came in and said Axel play with me, and you said Mmmn, and she said Tell me you love me, and you said Mom's coming home soon, and I said I'll tell Mommy you wouldn't play with me, and she said Well we'd better hurry, and you said Ummm I think, but you didn't finish, and I threw a balloon at your head, and you didn't say anything but you and her were wrestling with your shirt, so I gave up and went away and then Mommy came home and you all were yelling and you were mad and came to play with me but I was mad too so then you were sad and you gave me ice cream and I was happy again."

There's a long silence. I drop my face down on Saïx's shoulder even though he's staring _disbelief disgust_ at me. "Fail," I mutter under my breath, "fail, fail, fail..."

"Ooooh," half the girls finally crow, and they're laughing. "Can _we_ wrestle with your shirt, Akuseru-kun~?"

"Ladies," Saïx says in his coldest voice, "have some respect for my young siblings, please."

"D'awww..."

"Okay, Sai-Sai."

I can _feel_ his doomgaze even though I still have my face buried in his sleeve. "_Only my sister is allowed to call me that._"

Another long pause. Mostly of awe from them. Amazement from me and the kids.

"Well..." one of them says reluctantly.

"Okay," another one sighs.

"...Saikusu-kun," a third pipes up mischievously.

They burst into laughter again.

"Saïx," Xion says with shining eyes, "I lo-"

"I _know_."

**Part 3 - Saïx**

I don't understand how Axel abides them, but I suppose if _I'm_ his only other option for spending his free time with at this miserable school, it would make sense for him to tolerate them. He is far too social a creature to be able to avoid human companionship.

Thankfully, the girls did not have much longer to torment us before the bell rang, signaling the end of the lunch period. Xion looked sorry to see them go, but my brothers' feelings better reflected my own.

"Do they bug you _all the time_?" Roxas asked.

"Well, sort of. They're more fun when they're not picking on you and Sai."

"They weren't picking on them," Xion said in puzzlement. "They loved them."

"Xion, you're a girl," Axel said, as if that explained it. "What do you think, Sai, you wanna switch kiddos for the afternoon?"

Xion and Roxas both watched us curiously as I said, "No, keep Roxas." Axel was far better at keeping the boy under control than I was. "Take both of them, if you like..."

"But that's not fair," Xion objected, as if that was the issue here. "If me _and_ Roxas get to stay with Axel, who'll be with _you_?"

"I've done quite well on my own thus far," I said dryly. "I hardly need a small child underfoot during my classes the way Axel seems to."

"I wasn't under your foot," she pouted, while Axel stuck his tongue out at me as if he was the same age as her.

"Fine, keep my princess," Axel huffed in an exaggerated show of resigned annoyance. "I'll just play with her extra tonight to make up for it."

"_After_ you both finish your homework."

"What are you, my parent?"

"He doesn't want you to get grounded again," Xion said unhappily, and I could tell that Axel didn't want to get grounded again, either, despite his trying to pretend he didn't care.

"We can do our homework in Sai's room and have a Homework Party."

"Yay!"

"_No_."

"Are Homework Parties fun?" Roxas asked doubtfully.

"We're going to be late for class," I said. "Xion, if you're coming with me, I'm leaving for it _now_, so do not dawdle."

"Okay, I'm coming!"

She trotted to keep up with me as I made my way to the science wing, where I did not quite manage to cross the classroom threshold before the tardy bell rang. No matter - the teacher glanced at me, mouth open in preparation for censure, but once he saw it was me, he quickly looked away again, and I went to my seat unhindered.

Fortunately, my desk partner at the beginning of the school year had been intimidated elsewhere and the teacher had never bothered to replace her, so not only was I able to indulge in my preference of completing 'joint' assignments on my own, but now my sister was free to climb into the chair beside me without displacing anyone.

We were receiving odd looks as the teacher began calling roll. "Saïx Acerbi?" he said, looking dubiously at Xion.

"Here! He's here!" she shouted, pointing at me.

"Xion, I am perfectly capable of announcing my own presence, be quiet."

"I didn't want him to forget you," she said.

As if such a thing was even possible, since I'm sure he wished he _could_ forget about me. "You didn't even give me a chance to respond."

"Okay, next time I'll wait for a few seconds."

"Next time you will be _silent_, regardless of whether I answer or not."

"But if you don't answer, then you'll be absent!"

I was trying to whisper, but she was making no such effort, and the entire class was staring at us. The teacher had not resumed his task. "Xion, what were your instructions?" I snapped.

"Behave and don't say anything," she remembered. "Can you play tic-tac-toe with me?"

"No."

"Can I sit in your lap?"

"_No_."

"Can I sit in your lap if I'm reeeeeaaaallllly really good for five minutes?"

At the end of my patience, I slammed my hand on the table and glared at her, and was a little surprised when I sensed many of my classmates flinching along with my sister.

"Then can I draw Moonwolf Crescent?" she whispered.

"Keep your mouth _shut_," I hissed.

Staring at me with very wide eyes, she pretended to zip her lips closed. I watched her for a few seconds. Once I had determined that she was going to remain silent (for the time being...), I gave her some blank paper and a pencil, upon which point she immediately knelt up in the chair and started happily drawing one of her infernal ponies.

I looked around, exasperated to find that we were still the center of attention. "...I apologize for the interruption."

"...Fred Alvarez?" the teacher finally continued, though still watching me as if he expected me to answer.

"H-Here," Fred called nervously. Also staring at me. What was the _matter_ with everyone?

The period felt interminable, just like the one before lunch had. I was used to being left to myself and determinedly overlooked, which suited me just fine. Yet somehow, having a little girl in my presence and under my charge seemed to cause everybody's eyes to stay glued to me, despite the fact that they should have been paying attention to the lecture. Not that I could blame them very much, considering the disturbance Xion caused...humming under her breath, asking me questions, climbing into my lap so she could see better, interrupting the lecture which I was hesitant to rebuke her for since she _was_ learning science beyond her grade level, after all...

"Oooh, ooh! I know! There's an eight on the right side!" she cried triumphantly. "Because fourteen minus six equals eight!"

"Er...very good, um..."

"Her name is Xion," I said wearily. "And she needs to _sit down_ in _her own seat_." This was accompanied by a glare, causing my sister to sheepishly retreat from my lap into the chair next to me.

"Oh," the teacher fumbled. "Well, yes, Xion, that's right. The net force is eight Newtons. Ahem. Which means, Carly, that the object would then be actually moving in what direction?"

I doubt she even heard the question. Xion finally waved at her, and she uncertainly lifted her hand in response.

"Carly!"

"Um, what?"

This was _not_ difficult material. "It would be moving to the right," I said. "Since the stronger force on the left nullifies the weaker force acting upon the object from the right. _Obviously_."

"...V-Very good. Ahem. Um...Saïx...do you think that - you and your, um, companion could run an errand for me?"

I recognized an attempt to get rid of me when I saw one. I shut my textbook and put everything in my bag. "Come, Xion."

"Where are we going?" she asked curiously.

"The library."

"Ah!" my teacher exclaimed in relief, "Yes, the library. Um, I need you to, uh-"

"Don't bother." I paused by his desk, grabbing hold of Xion's hand before she could go over to touch a dangling keychain hanging from the zipper of one of my classmates' backpacks. "What is our homework assignment for tonight?"

"Um, read chapter 7 and do the questions at the end..."

"Very well. _Come_, Xion."

"But it's sparkly!"

I picked her up and carried her bodily from the room as she giggled and put her arms around my neck.

We spent the rest of the period in the library, where I didn't get much work done because the only way to make her sit _still_ was to read a story to her. She picked some incomprehensible fantasy novel about a personified star whose name was the same as my middle one.

"Saïx, what's a Zoi?"

"Something fictitious that I suspect is a throwaway plot point."

"What's that mean?"

"It means you need to stop interrupting me so I can keep reading and perhaps _find out_ what it is."

"Sai-Sai, why is Sirius a star but a dog too?"

"They call it the 'Dog Star' because it's a part of the Canis Major constellation. 'Canis' means 'dog.'"

"Why?"

"It's Latin."

"Why don't they just say 'Dog Major'?"

"Xion, do you _want_ to find out what happens next, or don't you?"

"I wanna find out! I'll be good! Saïx, did Sirius really kill the lumasomething, or are they all just being mean to him?"

**Part 4 - Xion**

I felt bad about bothering my big brother, but I couldn't tell whether he liked it or not. All the interruptions annoyed him, but he also liked showing off, so I kept asking whenever there was something I didn't understand and watched his eyes going, _"This is infuriating, why won't she be _quiet_?!"_ and _"There is so much I know that she doesn't..."_ and things without words: hands, tiny green stems, petals opening in the sunlight. It made me feel like a flower being protected in a storm, and I couldn't tell whether I liked it or not, just like he couldn't, either. I did like being confused with him, though. It was like it made us both together.

When the bell rang, we went to a different class and Saïx said _"SIT DOWN SIT DOWN SIT DOWN"_ so much with his eyes that I was afraid to say anything. But there was no one sitting in the desk behind him, and these desks were only for one person at a time, not the tables like in the science class, so I couldn't sit next to him. I was so boooooored and his hair was so long and blue and right in front of me, I wanted to fix it and make it pretty. I don't think he liked it, but he didn't tell me to stop either, so while everyone was talking about boring stuff, I twisted and twisted until he had all the prettiest braids, except I didn't have anything to tie them with. Then the girls started laughing, and Saïx saw what I did to his hair and he was so mad, but he was actually embarrassed so it didn't really hurt.

"I'm sorry, big brother. Do you want me to unbraid them?"

"There's no time..."

We went to his last class of the day and everyone looked at him funny, but no one said anything. This time there was somebody in all the desks around him, so I stood next to him and unbraided his hair while the teacher talked, but everyone and the teacher too were staring at us just like they did in the other classes. I don't know how Saïx ever learns anything with people staring at him like that all the time.

"Saïx," I whispered, "do you have a brush?" All the braids made his hair a little curly, I had to fix it...

"I am not in the habit of carrying grooming tools to school, where they should not be necessary," he said in his Using Fancy Words To Make Himself Feel Better voice. Oops. I didn't mean to make him mad, it's just...his hair is so long...

People were giggling. When I turned around, a girl was holding out a comb to me. "Thanks!" I took it and started pulling it through Saïx's hair. I could see in his eyes that it hurt even though he didn't say anything, so I tried to be careful, but I was still hurting him and I didn't know what to do.

The girl who gave me the comb got up and said, "Here, sweetie, hold it like this. Start from the ends here and work your way up, see?"

"Ohhhh." Then some other girls came over and all of us helped fix Saïx's hair together, and he was mad at us so he ignored us and started writing in his book instead. The teacher finally ignored us too and went on talking about letting ham do something, except all the big kids were still staring at Saïx and only a few people were paying attention. Saïx's friends at school are all really weird. My teacher would get mad at me if people were playing with my hair in class, but Saïx's teacher didn't get mad at him, so I guess she was really nice?

When everyone was supposed to work together, all the girls wanted to work with Saïx, and he said he wanted to work alone, but they kept staring at his eyes and touching his face and laughing and telling him that they would all help a lot. "I can help, too," I said.

"You cannot," he growled.

"Yes, I can!"

"Very well, then tell me what your interpretation of the symbolism is in this passage of _Hamlet_."

"Whaaaat?" He thought he was mad at me, but I felt bad for him because it was really that he didn't like the girls and wanted to go home. I sat in his lap so he'd feel better. "You answer the questions and I'll color pictures for them." I'm good at coloring.

"No. Draw whatever you want in this notebook and be _quiet_ until the bell rings..."

I wasn't quiet, I couldn't help it, but no one else was quiet, either, so I think it was okay. When the bell rang, all the girls said good-bye to Saïx, and one of them hugged him and another one kissed his cheek, and he took my hand and dragged me out while I was trying to wave good-bye, and they all called after me that I was really cute and to tell Axel hello for them when I saw him again, so I said okay.

"Saïx, why don't you like those girls? They were nice."

"If you were capable of understanding the concept of respect for one's personal space, I might explain it to you. However, you don't, so I'm not going to bother."

"Are you mad?"

"Yes."

"Are we gonna find Axel and Roxas soon?"

"Yes."

"Can we have ice cream on the way home?"

"...I don't care."

I could see from his eyes that he really wanted ice cream. "I'll buy you some."

"You don't have any money."

"I'll get Axel to buy you some."

"_I_ have money, I'll buy it myself."

"And for me, too?"

"I'm not going to eat ice cream in front of you when you don't have any."

"So you'll buy me some?"

"Xion, you're going to get it one way or the other, it doesn't matter who buys it."

When we got to the front of the school, Roxas ran to grab my hands, and we danced in a circle singing the We Pwn song as loud as we could. Axel came up to sing it, too, and Saïx walked right past us like he didn't know who we were.

"Sai-Sai! Waaaaiiiit, you forgot about us!"

"I think that was on purpose," Axel said. He was laughing. He grabbed our hands, and the three of us ran together to catch up.

o.o.o

Author's Notes: **Axel's assignment was the poem "Children" by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.**

"Lovely Item" - from _Ouran High School Host Club_, lol. The Host Club tries to explain to poor Bossanov- Cassano- _Kasanoda_ (:p) that the reason no one's scared of big silent Mori is because he's always got adorable little Honey clambering over him like a monkey. XD

Btw, I wrote over half of this before I wrote _Wind's Legacy_ and _Daughters of the Heart_.

Ummm, Saïx's science class lecture...that was just the first thing that came into my head, I don't know if it's something he's supposed to have learned already. *sweatdrop*

Argh...just like with the first four Stepsibs stories, Xion's POV gave me the most trouble. X(


	7. Saïx and Jasmine

_**Bound by Fire**_**, a Kingdom Hearts fanfic series by Raberba girl**

**Omake - Saïx and Jasmine (rough draft)**

Summary: strikeAxel's little brother gets engaged./strike

A/N: Modern AU.

o.o.o

They thought it was a fight at first, the sudden commotion by the fountain and the way everyone started swarming over there. "Axel," Saïx warned.

"I just wanna look!"

"With your track record, you'll end up in the principal's office, too."

"I wouldn't have punched that guy if he hadn't said anything about Demyx!"

"Which you would not have heard if you hadn't been running over to see what was going on in the first place."

"But this time I-"

The reactions of the crowd were a little odd. Puzzled laughter, excited whispering that was more confused or incredulous than gleeful, some kids even wandering away in disinterest.

"It's not a fight," Axel suddenly said.

"Ax-"

Too late, the redhead had already taken off. Saïx sighed and got up to follow him.

The teachers had gotten there by this time, Ms. Taft staring, a little wide-eyed, as The Girl raged imperiously at a taken aback Mr. Klein.

Saïx thought of her capitalized like that at first, she was so...distinctive. Soaking wet, for one thing, like someone had dumped her thoroughly in the fountain she was still standing in. Thick raven-black hair hanging past her waist; turquoise pants made of a fabric that would probably billow when dry but clung sheerly to her legs and left little to the imagination when wet; a matching top that could not _possibly_ comply with any school's dress code; and gorgeous almond-brown skin, marred only by gooseflesh. She was shivering.

And speaking what sounded like gibberish to Axel, though Saïx could make some sense of it. He stepped forward and said in (what he hoped was) the same language, as soon as she paused again to draw breath, _"They are only trying to help."_

She stared at him, abruptly silent.

"You can understand her?" Mr. Klein said in surprise.

"A little. She's speaking Agrabahti, I think."

"Someone go get Mrs. Darzi," Ms. Taft ordered. A couple of excitedly gossiping girls trotted off in response.

Saïx shrugged out of his uniform jacket and stepped up to lay it over the girl's shoulders, but she moved back and raised her hand again in an aggressive warning gesture. _"Don't touch me."_

_"Why not?"_ he asked.

She gave him a long, slightly disbelieving look. _"Unless you are female."_

Axel laughed and clapped him on the shoulder. "What'd she say?"

Saïx realized that his face had colored. "...Essentially, she called me a girl," he said dryly.

"Hah! I _told_ you you should get a haircut."

Saïx shook his head. _"Please take the coat."_

_"_You_ were wearing it,"_ she exclaimed, as if he had gravely insulted her.

_"I'm clean,"_ he said, trying to stay patient.

_"You're a _man_, and perhaps a fool as well,"_ she said hotly.

He stared at her. She seemed genuinely affronted, or else she was a fantastic actor. It was almost like she really was from some country, social class, and era that had different rules of propriety.

His Agrabahti teacher arrived around then, immediately engaging the strange girl in a flurry of conversation almost too quick for Saïx to understand. He was barely able to keep up, much less translate for the insistent Axel.

The girl, whose name turned out to be the Agrabahti word for "jasmine," was apparently stark raving mad. She claimed she was a princess, kept asking for her palace and her father, and refused to answer when they tried to find out her phone number and address, or even the name of said father (whom she claimed was the sultan). She would not let any males touch her, spent quite longer than necessary in the girls' locker room, and came out with dry hair, clad in a P.E. uniform, and going on about the land of fairies.

Axel whistled appreciatively. "Man. Even in those ugly gym shorts, she's still hot."

"Shut up." Saïx was pretty sure that it was genuine (and growing) distress beneath all the girl's arrogance and nonsense.

They were all gathered in the front office now - Saïx had not been sent back to class since, as Mrs. Darzi's best student, he was potentially useful, and no one had thought to send Axel away yet. Mrs. Darzi actually had a class right now, and even though someone else was covering for her, she was clearly unhappy. "I am sorry," she finally apologized, "but I go teach. Saïx, he help you, he good boy."

"Teacher's pet," Axel smirked, earning a kick in the ankle.

"Saïx," the principal said unhappily once Mrs. Darzi had left, "tell this young lady that if she does not start giving us some solid information soon, we're going to have to call the police. She's not even enrolled here.

_"Your Highness,"_ Saïx sighed. She had nearly bitten his head off correcting his manner of address earlier. _"Please cooperate and answer the questions properly, or the police will come for you."_

_"You can't frighten me with your...with your 'police,'"_ she said, the word sounding uncertain on her tongue.

_"...Do you know what 'police' means?"_

She gave him a haughty glare.

_"When people break the law where you come from,"_ he said slowly, _"who punishes them?"_

Her face paled.

Funny how it hadn't until now, when he'd explained what he suspected was unfamiliar vocabulary. _'Where is she_ from_?!'_ he thought in amazement.

_"M-My father will never stand for this. If he finds that you've hurt me, he'll have all your heads."_

Saïx considered a moment. "What does your home look like?" he tried.

He eventually coaxed a picture from her of a vast white palace shining in the desert sun, empty rooms and balconies and courtyards stretching out for the sake of sheer luxury of space, a beloved tiger _"with eyes very much like yours,"_ she finished, gazing curiously. _"I just noticed that."_

"...Right." He turned back to the principal. Either this beautiful, bizarre girl was mentally unstable and in need of sensitive care, or something was very, very wrong on what was possibly on the level of science fiction. Either way, Saïx did not want to get the police involved. "...She described how to get back to the institution where she lives, but I don't trust her to get there safely on her own. I'd like to escort her."

"Well..." Being an Honors student with no marks on his discipline record definitely came in handy for Saïx sometimes. "All right." The principal finally noticed Axel. "What are you still doing here?"

Axel raised his hands. "Just helpin' out. You go on, Sai; I oughta get to class."

Saïx watched him saunter out, not pointing out aloud that Axel had never actually stated he was going to do what he should be doing. Saïx turned to Jasmine instead. _"We cannot stay here anymore, Your Highness. I beg that you allow me to lead you somewhere safe."_

He found that he was holding his breath as he submitted to her scrutiny and waited for her to reply. Then he expelled it in a relieved rush when she decided, _"You please me. I will accompany you."_

_"Thank you."_

Sure enough, Axel met them down the street from campus.

_"This one does not please me. His hair is an obnoxious color."_

"She doesn't like your hair," Saïx relayed with a smirk.

"Hey, I have awesome hair. She does, too, actually." Axel reached out as if he was a fascinated small child, but Saïx quickly moved to block him.

"Don't touch her. She is under the impression that she is royalty, hence she considers the touch of most males to be a grave insult."

"_Seriously_?"

_"What are you talking about?"_ Jasmine demanded.

_"How to not offend you. Your Highness-"_

_"You're so brave,"_ she said. She was walking on the grass, as close to the fence as she could get, eyes fixed on the street. He realized belatedly that she was flinching every time a car passed by. _"How tame are those beasts?"_

_"...They are not animals, they are-"_ What was the word for 'vehicle'? _"-wagons. People are driving them."_

_"I don't believe you."_

_"Look."_ They had reached the intersection, and he pointed at the car approaching the stop sign. _"In the front, behind the glass."_

_"...Ohhh..."_ She watched intently until the car was out of sight. _"They are very skilled."_

"Does she not know what cars are?" Axel said incredulously. "What, she's been living under a rock all this time?"

_"Jasmine,"_ Saïx asked. _"How did you come to this place?"_

_"I can't remember. Just that I fell in the fountain, and when I climbed out again, I was here in the land of the fae."_

_"Do you have any idea how to get home?"_

_"You would be the one to know, not me."_

"Hmm."

"'Sup?" Axel asked.

"...I think she's clinically insane."

Axel studied him. "No, you don't."

"What?"

"You think you know what's up with her, but you don't like it, so you're lying to make yourself feel better."

"Stop reading my mind," Saïx grumbled uneasily.

"So what's her deal?"

"...She is _not_ a time traveler. She belongs in an institution where trained professionals can properly care for her."

"She's a _time traveler_?!"

"I _didn't say that_," Saïx wailed.

_"What spells are you casting?"_

_"We're not doing magic, we're just talking. Your Highness, my home is very small and humble, but it is the only place I can think of where you will be safe. Please..."_

_"Very well."_ Yet she was still shocked at just _how_ much smaller the house was than her own home. _"What do you mean there's not anymore?!"_

He sighed and explained again. _"That is where we cook and eat, that hallway there leads to where we bathe and sleep, beyond that door is where our wagons stay, and these two rooms are for everything else. The grass inside the fence is ours, too. There's no more."_

_"No! This is a _closet_!"_

It was Axel's idea to feed her junk food to get her to calm down. The potato chips made her grimace, but the taste of dark chocolate was savored as she closed her eyes and held it on her tongue. She also seemed coolly impressed by the refrigerator, stove, television, and indoor plumbing, as if the 'magic' made up for the lack of space.

"Man, time travelers are supposed to be more blown away by our l33t technology than this," Axel pouted. "It's no fun when she plays it cool."

"She's a princess. She'll lose face if she lets herself look awed about anything."

Having a royal guest was inconvenient but interesting. Jasmine changed into some of Mrs. Acerbi's clothes and then made Saïx explain how everything in the universe (so it felt) worked, all while seeming to expect him to wait on her hand and foot. Axel left at one point to pick up his younger brother from school, and returned with both said brother and Saïx's own younger sibling.

"Sai-Sai! I didn't have to ride the bus today!" Xion crowed, glomping him.

"Why not?" Saïx frowned at Axel, who shrugged.

"Well, I was coming back anyway, figured I might as well."

"Is this the princess?" Xion asked interestedly.

"Her name is Jasmine, and she doesn't speak English. Leave her alone."

_"Who is the little girl?"_ Jasmine asked.

_"My sister, Xion. She is insufferable, so please don't encourage her."_

Jasmine held out her arms and Xion flew into them to be cuddled, leaving Saïx rolling his eyes.

"Is she your girlfriend?" Roxas asked.

"_No_, she's not."

"She's pretty."

Axel quickly stopped Roxas from reaching out. "She doesn't like boys, Rox."

The five-year-old's eyes lit up. "She doesn't?" He reached out again and poked her.

"_Roxas_!" Axel burst out. Obviously laughing, which was useless.

_"He laid a hand on me!"_ Jasmine cried indignantly.

"Is that a secret Princess Language?" Xion asked.

_"Your Highness, he meant no harm, he's only a child."_

_"I have been sullied!"_

"You're _fine_," Saïx grumbled in English.

Roxas laughed and went to poke her again.

_"I will never forgive you,"_ Jasmine hissed, though she made no resistance this time.

"_Roxas_, I told you, keep your cooties to yourself."

"I don't have cooties! Only girls have cooties!"

"We do not," Xion protested.

Roxas wrapped his arms around Jasmine's neck and stuck his tongue out at both his brother and his best friend.

_"You don't seem to mind his touch now," _Saïx observed.

_"Well, of course my lord may do as he pleases with me,"_ she said bitterly.

_"...Your lord?"_

_"My new betrothed, though I doubt the insolent peasant will be allowed to live until our wedding day."_

_'Sacred moon,'_ Saïx realized. "Roxas, I _told_ you to leave her alone. Now you have to marry her."

"EW!" Roxas shrieked, fleeing into the kitchen.

"_That's_ why she didn't want any dudes to touch her?" Axel said incredulously.

"Roxas and the princess are gonna get married?" Xion said with shining eyes. "Can I be a bridesmaid?"

"Sure!"

"They are _not_ getting married, it's a misunderstanding."

"But...!"

"C'mon, Xi, let's go see if there's ice cream in the freezer," Axel said, and the two of them wandered off to join Roxas in the kitchen.

Saïx sighed and turned back to the princess. _"Jasmine. We do things differently in this place. No one is forced to marry when they don't want to. Roxas is only a misbehaving child, he did not mean to disrespect you or lay a claim on you."_

She was staring at him. _"Women in this land choose their husbands?"_

_"Yes. Both men and women are allowed to choose. They can choose to not marry, also."_

Now the princess's eyes were the ones shining. _"I don't want to marry that boy."_

_"Certainly not."_

_"I don't want to marry Prince Adil, either, or Prince Haidar, or Prince Ilham, or Prince-"_

_"Then don't. You are not just a prize to be won, you are a human being with a human being's dignity."_

She reached out very hesitantly. Then, to Saïx's astonishment, she wrapped her arms around him and whispered, _"I don't want to marry you, either."_

He knew it was not an insult. _"Although I value your company, I am in agreement with you."_

_"...This feels nice."_

Even more hesitantly, he raised his own arms to hug her back.

To Xion's great disappointment, the princess disappeared later in the evening, when Saïx's concerned mother opened the bathroom door during Jasmine's overly long bath to find the tub overflowing and the girl gone without a trace. Well, except her clothes. Xion used them to play dress-up with when she got older and they fit her better. Saïx would sometimes feel the silky fabric sliding between his fingers, and remember the girl whose final smile was one of the most memorable gifts he had ever received.

o.o.o

Author's Notes: I wasn't able to work **the backstory** in. Back in canonish _Aladdin_, before the time of the movie, Jasmine comes across Jafar doing some sorcerous experimentation and accidentally gets caught up in it, time traveling to Sai & Axel's modern AU. While bathing in that world, she falls through the portal again or however it works, and ends up back home (Rajah finds her in the courtyard fountain late at night, there's no one else around). She doesn't have any real memories of the whole thing, just a vague uneasiness about what Jafar's been up to. The idea of being transported between worlds via water is from an anime I don't want to name. *sweatdrop*

So anyway, it occurred to me that Jasmine's feminism in the movie is pretty odd considering the setting, even taking into account how shockingly indulgent her father is for his circumstances. I don't think it's realistic for a woman in that time period and in that sort of society to be so outspoken about the "I am not chattel!" thing, and ESPECIALLY for everyone else around her to _go along_ with it. She had three adult males cringing sheepishly in one scene! In the context of a modern Disney movie, it's humorous and admirable (and make no mistake, I support Jasmine's stance whole-heartedly); but again, not realistic at all. This story isn't a full remedy or anything, but I was just trying to play around with ideas to try to make it even a _little_ more plausible.


End file.
